Consequence (Rewrite)
by Birdlover425
Summary: "Don't you dare touch my little brother, Ivan. I'll make you regret it."
1. Chapters 1 and 2

**Here's the first couple chapters again, improved for both yours and my enjoyment. Special thanks to that guest who told me how seizures work. I did extra research again.**

 **Disclaimer; the cover photo does not belong to me, it was drawn by a** **Pixiv member that is displayed on my profile because fanfiction is apparently allergic to links in the description.**

 **Please credit her for the drawing.** **If you want to compliment the picture, _please please_ go to the artist, NOT ME.**

 **Enjoy.**

 _Years Before_

"That was really fun Roderich!" Germany said, skipping happily down the dirt path to his house.

"No problem, Ludwig. Come over my house sometime and we can play things that are even more fun!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, of course!"

"Cool! I'll ask!"

"See you around!"

"Bye!" They split at the fork of the dirt road.

" _That was so much fun!"_ he thought walking back to his place. It was pretty far from where he met Austria.

 _I had never hung out with another country like me before. But I really don't think my master would let me do it again… I'll ask anyway, but I hope she doesn't get mean like she does sometimes._

"Another country? You were playing with another country?!"

"Y-Yes, his name is Austria, and he's really nice, you should meet hi-"

"No. I don't think you'll be meeting with him anytime soon either."

"W-Why?!"

The woman looked around frantically, trying to think of what the authority would do to her if that other nation did harm to the boy, finally covering her face in frustration at his stupid cluelessness.

"Madam, why not?"

"Because he could hurt you. Other nations are dangerous.

"What? No, no, Roderich would never… He's such a nice person, and I-"

"Ludwig, I won't discuss this, go to your room."

"Just let me explain, he's-"

"Ludwig, enough."

"I really just want a frie-"

" _Enough, Ludwig! You will not go to see him ever again!"_

The little boy stood shocked for a moment, but his head dropped as he felt tears pooling in his eyes.

"You should go to bed. It's late." Madam finished.

Ludwig nodded and wiped at his eyes as he turned to go back to his room.

He closed the door behind him and curled up on his bed.

 _Can't I just have one friend, madam?_

MANY YEARS LATER

Age 16

"Germany, are you ready?" Madam says.

"Yes, ma'am." Ludwig replies calmly.

"Good."

It was his first day to begin his training in becoming the representation and soldier of Germany. He made sure to adjust his dark hunter green uniform as he walked with squared shoulders out the door.

Before he departed, he checked his Guideline that was given to him as well as his directions.

 _You and them are one._

 _The actions of you will affect them as much as theirs affect you._

 _When your country is flourishing, strength and wisdom must come from you._

 _But when times are dark, you must fight for them and them alone._

 _Your fate lies in each others' hands._

 _But be cautioned;_

 _Your sympathy is more valuable than you would think._

" _Don't sympathise with the weak Ludwig. You'll only hurt yourself."_

Ludwig sighed and took out the map of directions included in the folder.

" _Wow, this place is really far... But the directions say to…_

 _RUN._

 _I'm supposed to go on foot… and RUN?!"_

Ludwig let out a sigh of frustration as he started to jog.

 _1 HOUR LATER_

" _I'm… just too close to stop now…"_

By now Ludwig's lungs felt like they were burning, as had been nearly an hour and he had run 8.5 kilometers.

" _I'm so close… Can't stop now… Can't stop…"_

" _I can see it!"_ He thought as his vision became blurry.

He trudged towards the entrance of the camp site and collapsed, rolling onto his back.

His body dehydrated, exhausted, and aching, he slowly closed his eyes, sleep beckoning his mind.

Suddenly a crushing force slammed into his chest. Instantly, Ludwig took a sharp breath and started to cough. He used what little energy he had left to gaze up, his fluttering eyes straining to focus. A towering man with a dark green uniform like his loomed over him with his boot crushing the oxygen out of his chest, a sick grin on his face.

"So you are my new student." He added more pressure and Ludwig felt a sickening crack and pain shooting through the inside his body.

" _My rib."_ He thought, horrified, and as he tried to cry out, his mouth only let out a disturbing choking noise, as his throat was too dry to make a sound.

"What a shame. You're just so _weak."_ He sneered and added another front of pressure, and Ludwig's mind began to panic as felt another crack.

" _No-"_

His face was twisted in a horrible expression, his neck twisting unnaturally when suddenly Ludwig felt something odd rising in his throat. He coughed again, but this time, crimson fluid started to flow out both ends of his mouth, staining his hair.

Sounds blurred in his ears, and the things he was seeing were jarring and not fitting into their puzzle pieces and he just felt _so dizzy..._

"What's wrong? Can't stay awake? It's okay, I'll let you take a good long nap."

He kicks the blonde into the nearest fence, and as soon as his head hit the fence pole, he blacked out, blood still running from his mouth.

* * *

Ludwig barely felt conscious when he heard the muffled beep of a cardiac monitor and a woman speaking next to him. Sounds were unclear, and all he could see was shapes of light moving around the room. His limp eyes turned to the hand approaching his forehead, and he instantly relaxed at the warm, non-hostile touch.

"He's feverish. Get me a wet cloth." She said.

Then a different one speaks.

"Did he really have to beat this one up so bad? He's so much younger than the other trainees we bring here. Oh, and here."

"Thanks."

Ludwig's chest jolted at the sudden coldness over his head, his eyes shooting open and then closing again.

The second girl flinched.

"He's conscious." The first woman said. "Get the painkillers."

It only took Ludwig a moment to realize why he would need those painkillers, as his chest ached and burned so much that he couldn't breathe.

The woman next to him prepared a syringe and as she stuck it into Ludwig's arm, he winced, but then instantly relaxed as he felt the medicine doing its work.

Ludwig rubbed at his eyes and clarified his surroundings. The two women next to him were wearing nurse uniforms with name tags, one of them holding a very worrisome expression while the other seemed calmly urgent. The calm nurse had the name Tenenbaum. The other nurse had the name Petra.

"Are you sure we shouldn't put bandages around his chest? It would reduce the pain." Petra suggested nervously.

"It would also cause his ribs to heal improperly. I know other people use them, but it's a pretty flawed practice."

"W-where…" Ludwig muttered without thinking.

"You just got here about 10 minutes ago. Sorry about your greeting." Tenenbaum said sorrowfully.

He quickly tried to recall the events that led up to where he was.

" _I was given instructions to run to the camp. And I collapsed…? I can't remember…"_

Ludwig noticed his head being awkwardly cushioned and felt dread pitting in his stomach.

" _Oh no. Head injuries usually equal motor complications."_

Ludwig mentally cringed at the thought of having to be _escorted_ places in a wheelchair.

"Can I… stand?" He asked.

"You symptoms say it's okay to try. But do it slowly."

Ludwig sat up and leaned his heavy head in his hands, already beginning to feel a bit dizzy. He let his feet touch the floor and as he brought himself to his feet, Tenenbaum along with Petra supporting his weight. They slowly let go of him, and he was instantly relieved that he could stand on his own two feet with little to no trouble.

With no warning, the door suddenly flew open.

An angry, mid-aged man with brown eyes and hair burst into the room, wearing a dark green uniform.

" _That face…"_ Ludwig thought, remembering his features.

"Hey! Aren't you done fixing him yet?" He barked.

" _I… I know it…"_

"No, sir, you cracked two of his ribs and you also gave him a concussion. He's a long way from fixed."

His face whips around to face Ludwig with a glaring expression.

" _Oh… That's right. It was you. My supposed trainer."_

He storms over to face the young boy, grabs his wrist and slams Ludwig into the wall. Before he could even crumble to the ground, the man seized his neck and pushed him up on the wall, his nails digging into his neck. Ludwig tries to pry his fist off, panic rising in his mind, but all he could do was gasp for air.

" _Sir! What are you doing to my patient?!"_ Tenenbaum yelled.

"Tenenbaum, cut the shit." he said sharply.

He looked back at Ludwig again. He flailed his legs around in panic.

"You've already set this stupid-ass project back because of your pathetic form. So if I were you, I'd hurry the fuck up, or just die. Got me?"

Ludwig stared at his expectant eyes as he tried to form words, but all he could do was stare, still trying to breathe.

In annoyance, the man pushed him further up the wall, somehow making his grip even tighter.

Ludwig could feel himself losing consciousness as his eyes were fluttering closed and his ears weren't recognizing sounds as well as they should have been.

" _Sir! Put that boy down, you're killing him!_ "

At long last, he decided to drop the suffocating Ludwig on the ground, leaving his distorted figure gasping for air and still having trouble hearing anything.

But he heard contact of a fist to a face, and then someone falling to the ground next to him.

"Next time you actually try resist me Tenenbaum, I will personally smash your face in. Understand?"

Ludwig hears footsteps and a door slamming.

He looked up at Tenenbaum, who had fallen next to him with a bloody bruise on her left cheek.

" _He abuses them… Of course…"_ He thought bitterly.

He opened his mouth, trying to speak, but his voice was once again choked away by the man in green.

"You okay, kid?" She said, massaging her cheek.

Ludwig exhaustedly reached out for her hand in a desperate attempt to get her attention as she leaned over to check his pulse.

Her sunken eyes scanned over his body to check for any injuries, when Ludwig's shaky hand finally grabbed hers and she stopped to look at him.

 _"Das tut Mir leid."_ He said in a raspy whisper.

"It's okay." She said in an oddly comforting tone. "You get used to it-"

 _"Das tut Mir leid."_

Ludwig didn't mean to say it a second time… it felt as if it had just slipped out...

" _Oh no…"_

His arm was practically rattling in her grasp. His teeth were clenched shut and the rest of his body was shaking...

The doctor suddenly looked very concerned.

" _I felt bad that she was hit… And now I'm about to pay for it."_

"Convulsing... He's seizing!" She says in a worried voice towards Petra.

She quickly prepares the bed and comes over to help Tenenbaum lift the sick boy.

His eyes flutter as he desperately tries to get a good look around.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"You're having a seizure," She says a little more calmly, squeezing his hand. "Just... Just hang in there okay? You're going to be fine." Ludwig's eyes begin to close again, his jaw rattling. "N-No I'm…"

His breathing got quicker as he shut his eyes tight and looked away.

They placed him on the bed.

"Petra, keep him from falling off." Tenenbaum said.

She looked at him again. "Everything's alright, we're taking care of you, okay?"

" _Too much, I can't… I can't see… I'm…"_

Ludwig's eyes closed, and his movements calmed. The voices around him swirled in his head and faded into oblivion.


	2. Extra Chapters 1 and 2

**Chapters one and two from Tenenbaum's POV. Thanks to _Ichigo Kitsune-chan_ and _AmySong_ for following my content. **

**Caution; some things were changed in the last chapter, most notably lines of the "Guideline." I only tell you because the changes will be spoken of in this chapter, so don't feel like you missed something.**

 **Anyway, enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

"Our new student is here. Go fetch him."

"What? Why can't he just-"

" _Scheisse…"_ Tenenbaum muttered as she sprinted to the entrance courtyard of the camp to find a beaten form towards the entrance.

"Petra! Come over here with a stretcher! Quickly!" She yelled.

She ran over to the gate, and felt undeniable horror rising within her.

" _This… This is is a young boy… at most he's 17…"_ She thought.

Tenenbaum never thought she could be this angry at the man she was working for, but she honestly didn't think he could be this cruel.

She kneeled over to his side and tried to scan for all of the identifiable injuries. They weren't inside yet, but the quicker she could identify things the better, she thought.

" _Let's see…"_

She immediately noticed that his breathing was stressed, and blood had spilled from both sides of his mouth. She leaned over and felt around his chest, and his face tightened at the sudden pressure.

" _Broken ribs."_

She held his head up to prepare him to be lifted into the stretcher, and she heard a muffled moan from his chest.

" _Head injury. Possible concussion."_

Petra ran out toward where she was kneeling next to him, carrying a stretcher. She looked down at the boy and gasped quietly to herself.

She placed the stretcher on the ground, still staring at the boy.

As they lifted the mangled boy onto the stretcher, she evaluated the situation presented to her.

A boy is at the front entrance pole, knocked out with two broken ribs and a head injury. There is a trail of blood from the middle of the entrance post to the fence. His orders were to run here.

Perhaps…

Perhaps he lives too far away. Maybe it took him a long time to get here and he collapsed at the front, on his back, gasping for air. In the distance, Viktor sees him in his exhausted state, and in annoyance at his fatigue, he walks over and most likely crushes his ribs with his boot. Here the bleeding starts. Not too long after, Viktor kicks him into the fence, and walks away.

" _Only to go tell me to 'fetch the new student.'"_ She thought irritably.

"He's secured." Petra said, still looking apologetically at the boy in the stretcher.

They carried him inside on the stretcher and the two of them lift him onto the bed. Tenenbaum removed his uniform jacket and shirt to see the damage. His chest was tinted red and blue several areas.

" _Middle right and left of chest. two broken ribs. A boot definitely smashed his ribs."_

"Petra, prepare painkillers."

"Right."

For his head, Tenenbaum grabbed a bunch of pillows and stuffed them behind his head and around it for support. The painkillers and reduced movement would take care of the rest.

She felt his forehead.

"He's feverish. Get me a wet cloth."

"Did he really have to beat this one up so bad? He's so much younger than the other trainees we bring here. Oh, and here."

"Thanks."

She carefully placed the cloth on his forehead, and he flinched, blinking his eyes open.

"He's conscious. Give him the painkillers." She said.

His breathing was still quite restricted, and his eyes were straining to see, she quickly noted.

Petra emptied the syringe in his arm and he flinched at the sudden injection, but he visibly relaxed after the medicine took effect. He opened his eyes much more comfortably and glanced at Petra's and Tenenbaum's name tags.

"Are you sure we shouldn't wrap his chest with bandages?" Petra asked nervously. "It would reduce the pain."

"It would also cause his ribs to heal improperly. I know other people use them, but it's a pretty flawed practice."

"W-where…"

"You just got here about 10 minutes ago. Sorry about your greeting." She said sympathetically.

He looked around a bit and Tenenbaum noticed that he looked very Aryan. Completely blue eyes and blonde hair.

He looked at the ceiling looking very puzzled and then turned to look at her again.

"Can I… Stand?"

She hesitated, but decided they would need to test him for a concussion anyway.

"You symptoms say it's okay to try."

He sat up and supported his head in his hands.

" _He looks pretty dazed._ " She thought.

His feet touch the floor and slowly, but steadily, he stood. He started to stumble forwards, unable to keep his balance, and Petra and her simultaneously rushed over to support him.

" _Definitely a concussion." She thought._

Me and Petra slowly let go of his arms, and he steadied himself.

She couldn't help but smile at the sudden look of relief on his face that he could stand on his own two legs.

The door flew open.

" _Dammit, Viktor… Not now…"_ She thought dreadfully.

"Hey! Aren't you done fixing him yet?" He barked.

"No, sir, you cracked two of his ribs and you also gave him a concussion. He's a long way from fixed." She said, irritated at his presence.

He angrily looks over to face the boy, who was suddenly looking defensive and as he tried to back away from the older man, Viktor grabbed his wrist and slammed him into the wall. Already disoriented, he grabs the boy's neck and pushes him up the wall. I see him gasping for air and trying to rip his hand off, but with Viktor's impossibly strong grip, that would never work.

" _I have to do something."_ Tenenbaum thought urgently.

" _Sir, what are you doing to my patient?!_ " I yelled.

"Ten, cut the shit." he said sharply. He turned to face the boy again, still flailing his legs around in panic. "You've already set this stupid-ass program back because of your pathetic form." He sneered. "So if I were you, I'd hurry the fuck up, or just die. Got me?"

Victor held his glare at the boy, who only stared at him with unfocused eyes, his jaw locked open, desperately trying to breathe. Viktor was slid him further up the wall, and the boy's eyes fluttered uncontrollably as he let out a strained choke.

" _Asphyxiation…"_ She thought, feeling a little panic rising within her.

" _Sir! Put that poor boy down, you're killing him!_ " She screamed.

At long last, he dropped the boy, his mangled body wheezing on the floor.

He whipped around to face her, and his fist crashed into the woman's face, her jawbone separating and relocating itself.  
She fell to the floor next to the boy, her cheek bruised and swollen.

"Next time you _actually_ try resist me, Tenenbaum, I will personally make sure that pretty little face of yours is _in pieces_. Understand?" He walks out, and he slams the door behind him.

The boy looks up at her from his hopeless situation and scans the new bruise on her face.

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but his voice was a hissing whisper that couldn't be heard to well.

"You okay, kid?" She asked, massaging her aching cheek.

She leaned over to check his pulse.

He grabbed her hand and she froze to look at him.

" _Das tut Mir leid."_ He croaked.

 _He feels bad about Viktor..._

"It's okay." Tenenbaum said in the most comforting tone she could muster up. "You get used to it-"

 _"Es tut Mir leid."_ He said again in a weirdly unstable voice.

" _That didn't sound too healthy…"_

His hand. It was clattering against hers, His jaw is locked open and the rest of his body is shaking too...

"Convulsing…" She muttered to herself not too long before genuine fear took hold of her. She looked over at Petra.

"He's seizing."

Her eyes widen as she quickly prepares the bed and comes over to help me pick him up.

His eyes flutter as he desperately tries to get a good look around.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"You're having a seizure," She says a little more calmly, squeezing his hand. "Just... Just hang in there okay? You're going to be fine." Ludwig's eyes begin to close again, his jaw rattling, and Tenenbaum hated to just have to watch him.

"N-No I'm…"

His breathing got quicker as he shut his eyes tight and looked away.

They placed him on the bed.

"Petra, keep him from falling off." She said.

She looked at him again. "Everything's alright, we're taking care of you, okay?"

Ludwig's eyes closed, and his breathing along with his movements calmed. He was out like a light.

Tenenbaum quickly checked his pulse and her heart sank.

"Dammit…" She muttered. "Petra you have to monitor his life signs with the cardiac monitor."

"What's going to happen to him?" Petra asked fearfully as she attached the monitor to his wrist.

She looked at his no longer trembling face and still closed eyes, and the sullen doctor carefully brushed his blonde hair off of his face.

She brought her hand up to shield her face.

"He's going into a coma."

Petra clasps her hand to her mouth in fear. "No…"

"You mean… You mean there's a chance he won't… wake up?"

Tenenbaum nodded, keeping her eyes closed.

They both stayed silent for an extended moment until Petra finally spoke.

"I didn't even get the chance to ask him his name…"

"It won't come to that." Tenenbaum said. "I refuse to have another dead patient."

All she could think of was the trainee that was last brought here and was killed by Viktor.  
" _He was holding the human race back with his weakness. He needed to be eliminated."_ She remembered him say.

" _Never again. I would never let it happen."_ She thought.

"This didn't make much sense though. Didn't you notice how he descended into his seizure so suddenly? It doesn't make any sense. If it was due to the concussion, it would have happened while or right after Viktor choked him. Something weird's going on here." Petra speculated.

She glanced back back at him.

"He's gonna wake up. I'm sure of it." She lied to herself.

* * *

After a couple hours on Tenenbaum's shift to watch the boy, she noticed she had fallen asleep with her head resting on the side of his bed. She sat up and checked the cardiac meter.

" _No change…"_ She thought sullenly.

She looked over to the coat that they took off of him, and realized he probably came with some kind of I.D..

" _Maybe he didn't have to wake up for Petra to know his name. That would make her so happy…"_ She thought.

She walked to the other side of the bed and dug into the pockets of the jacket. Instead of an I.D., She found a piece of paper labeled "Guidelines." She quickly read through it.

 _"The actions of you will affect them as much as theirs affect you..."_

 _Countries?_

 _This document suggests that countries are individual people who exist. Their actions… affect…_

 _The countries actions affect the people living in it… and vice versa…_

 _"Your Sympathy is more valuable and self-harming..."_

 _Their sympathy has something to do with the connection between them and their people? 'Self harming...' feeling bad for people… hurts you?_

As in…

his sudden seizure…

 _No… no no no, that's impossible… he can't… he isn't…_

You don't even know _his_ name.

 _But…_

She read more.

 _"Mortals cannot scar you. The scars of the mortals will."_

Mortals can't… _what?_

Tenenbaum rushed back to the boy's side and fearfully took the blanket off of his chest, and immediately gasped as the bruising on his neck was gone already, and his chest was already missing lots of the bruising that was there. _He healed already!_

She nervously reached her hand out to feel his chest, to see if any major damage to his ribs was still there.

As soon as her fingertips touched the skin of a bruised area, she slowly began to sit down and took out her stethoscope.

As she felt around the area, she didn't find _nearly_ as many irregularities, terrifying her as to how short a time it took for him to heal.

She tried pressing down harder… maybe she was missing something… _He just couldn't possibly be healed-_

The boy let out a shuddering whimper as he took fistfulls of his bedsheets, his ribs aching from too much pressure.

Tenenbaum ripped her hand away, mentally kicking herself in getting too carried away with her inspection of his injuries.

"Ach, sorry sorry…" She murmured, putting the stethoscope on her ears and holding the chestpiece over his heart.

The steady rhythm of his pulse didn't tell her much, but the rate of his breathing did. It was completely normal again.

Meaning that his chest injuries, which would usually take weeks, months even, had just healed in under 10 hours.

Tenenbaum took off the stethoscope earpieces and stared at the body of this impossible boy laying on the bed.

 _Mortals can't scar him._

 _And his sympathy is damaging._

 _His seizure was a reaction to me being punched in the face._

 _And now he was in a coma._

Tenenbaum opened the cupboard above the sink and pulled out the bottle of brandy from the shelf. She unscrewed the cap and took a long swig of the burning liquid, sitting down next to the bed again.

As dizziness consumed her vision, she let herself comprehend the situation placed in front of her.

The nation of Germany is sleeping on this bed.

She chuckled at the thought, and drank more brandy.

The nation of Germany is in a coma.

Tenenbaum laughed out loud and let her head fall to the bed, placing the bottle on the floor.

"Ohhhh you strange, strange boy…" She laughed as her eyelids heavily fell, and she drifted to sleep. "What the fuck are you..."


	3. Chapter 3

**Another chapter. Thanks to _Seele Esser Deutsch_ for following my content. **

**Just a brief warning; this chapter has some abuse in it. I know this whole story has had some pretty extreme violence so far, but I'll try to warn you guys if sensitive stuff like this happens.**

 **Enjoy, see you in a bit.**

* * *

"You've done it now haven't you."

Ludwig was kneeling before madam on one knee. He lifted his head.

"I know, I'm just-"

"Silence! I did not give you permission to speak."

He dropped his head.

"You know how important the rules are, Ludwig."

He watches her pace around the wooden floor of her home with the intimidating, expensive stilettos she always wears.

"Then why do you dare do this to me."

"I-"

" _Ludwig!"_

She stomps her foot, and he silenced himself immediately.

"Thank you. Now. Tell me what you did."

He lifted his head slowly and looked at her, fear rising in his mind.

Ludwig only wished he knew what he had done. He didn't remember having done _anything_ to upset madam…

"I… I-"

"Ludwig, what did I say about stuttering? Speak clearly."

"I don't know."

She looked at him with the most infuriated eyes he had ever seen, and he looked down again, uncomfortable by her hateful gaze.

"I'm sorry, did you just tell me you don't know what you did wrong?"

"Yes."

She grabbed his chin and yanked it upwards to face hers, straining Ludwig's neck.

" _Look at someone when they are talking to you!_ " She yelled.

Ludwig's eyes were wide in horror and when he tried to shrink away, she turned his jaw back towards her.

"So, you do not know what you are here for, Ludwig." She said, now face level to the boy.

"Correct." he said bitterly.

"Well then we can just assume it wasn't you then right?" She said in a quiet, sweet voice meant to mimic that of someone who was forgiving.

Ludwig looked lifelessly into her eyes, feeling helpless to her patronization.

Suddenly she grabs him by his hair and rams his head into the ground, breaking his nose. A shuddering cry escaped his lips as he rolled onto his side.

" _Shut up!_ " She yells, kicking his stomach, as he let out another muffled cry.

She taps her foot impatiently. "Sit up." She sharpens her voice. " _Now._ "

He lifted himself from where he had fallen over, sitting up to face her again, nose bleeding, and he kneeled again.

"Now. What did you do wrong."

"I don't know."

" _Bullshit!_ " She steps on his right hand, and Ludwig clenched his teeth, holding back a scream.

"You are the one who stole my gold ring off of my wardrobe! You hoped to sell it while out doing errands today and keep the money! I _know_ it was you!" She screamed. "Older boys your age are _always_ such dirty little thieves…"

"It wasn't me…" He croaked.

"Enough of this..." She takes her foot off his bruised hand, picks it up and squeezes it as she drags him to his room. She lets his hand drop and walks back to the door.

"Come outside when you finally decide you're ready to confess."

She slams the door shut, and Ludwig just lays there on the floor, exhausted, dizzy…

And just so happy to be by himself again…

He stood up and walked over to his dresser and pulled out a first aid kit he bought for himself recently. He wrapped his hand with bandages and painfully readjusted his nose, again putting bandages on it. He took a deep breath, and walked over to his bed and lay down.

 _I'll get out. She just doesn't know it yet._

Ludwig's eyes flew open.

"Petra, get in here!" he heard Tenenbaum yell. He looked over to his right. Tenenbaum was sitting on a chair next to him. She was smiling. It was so nice to see her smile after the last time he saw her, he thought.

Petra ran in and squealed when she saw his face.

"You're alive!" she cried.

She runs over to the opposite side of the bed and shakes his hand vigorously, and he couldn't help but to chuckle at the sudden gesture. He sat up and noticed his chest and his head didn't hurt anymore.

"How long was I out?" He asked.

"Only two days. And your injuries are healed already."

" _Wow. When my master said it wasn't that easy to kill a country, she wasn't joking."_ He thought.

"So do you just… heal yourself that quickly?" Tenenbaum asked in an odd voice.

Ludwig swallowed.

"Y-yes… My doctors are always surprised at how quickly I can recover from injuries, but what they don't understand is that…"

Tenenbaum was already holding out the piece of paper "Guidelines," to his face.

"That… I'm… my…"

"Mhm." Tenenbaum hummed. "It's also rather miraculous that you so suddenly suffered from a seizure so long after Viktor choked you."

She gave him a smug look and put the paper on his lap.

Ludwig's felt his face heat up and his ears turned pink.

 _Schiesse…_

She reached over and ruffled his hair.

"Thanks for worrying about me." She gave him a warm smile. "But for your own good, it's best you don't."

He smiled back and fixed his hair.

"Well, now that you're awake, it's probably best we actually get to know each other before Viktor finds you again." Petra says.

He chuckled a bit and listened to her introduction.

" _Hallo_ , My name is Petra Steinway. I'm 26 years old and I like baking in my free time. Everyone tells me to put my last name on my name tag, but I don't care for that because I want my patients to treat me like a friend and not a professor."

" _Sehr erfreut_ _._ " Ludwig said holding out his hand. She grabbed it and shook it normally this time.

He turned his head to Tenenbaum.

" _Guten Tag,_ My name is Anselma Tenenbaum. I'm 30 years old and I have been a doctor almost all my life."

" _Sehr erfreut."_ He held his hand out to her and she gave it a single shake.

"And you? I think more than basic introduction is necessary." She asked.

Ludwig's eyes darted across his bed, and he clenched his fists for a moment.

My life is a little more convoluted than that...

"My name is Ludwig. I'm almost 17 years old. I was born in Germany and raised in an orphanage until… well, until they realized I was the thing being described on that piece of paper. Apparently leaders lost the first Germany, and immediately jumped at the chance to make sure they wouldn't lose him again. They reported my odd symptoms it to my doctors, but they told the orphanage that I was to be sent into an area of the hospital where they investigate strange disease. I was then put into private care. They wanted to make sure I didn't get "lost," like the last Germany, and so I was given to my master, Velona Brum. She was a poor woman around 28 years old, but she was their best candidate, being that she was so far away from everyone."

Ludwig shifted uncomfortably at the thought of her.

"I'm happy to have met you both. Truly."

Tenenbaum and Petra smiled.

Suddenly they heard yelling from outside.

"Get ready. Quickly!" Tenenbaum said. "If he sees you unprepared, he might actually kill you."

She grabbed his shirt and jacket and threw them at the bed.

He got up and quickly put them on. Not much after, she took his boots and put them down next to him, and put those on, looking around the room for anything he had missed.

"Here!" Tenenbaum threw his cap over from across the room. He quickly put it on and stood in a saluting position towards the door.

Immediately after they were all positioned, he burst into the door. Ludwig noticed he looked almost… Happy to see that he was awake. Viktor shot a look at Tenenbaum.

"What's his condition, Tenenbaum?"

"He had been injured with two broken ribs and a concussion at arrival. Shortly after being brought inside, he woke up. He was able to stand but then suffered asphyxiation. This caused him to have a seizure, landing him in a coma for 2 days. As of today, all of his injuries have miraculously healed."

He turned to face Ludwig again.

"You are to kneel in my presence. Understood?"

" _Nothing new."_ Ludwig thought, annoyed.

"Yes, sir." He kneeled down on his knee.

"Now. We will go outside to begin your training. When you walk, you will have your head down, and you will keep a one and a half meter distance from me. Is this clear?"

" _Why so damn specific?"_

"Yes sir."

"Okay. Let's go." He turned to leave, and Ludwig stood, waiting for him to get far enough to start walking.

Tenenbaum gave him a worried look.

" _Keine Sorgen."_ He whispered comfortingly, and started walking.

They got outside to the training ground, and Ludwig made sure to kneel when he got there.

Viktor waited for him and started pacing back and forth with a bag slung on his back, and holding…

" _A whip?!"_

"Well. You've finally come around from your injuries. In that case, we can start training right away." He takes the bag off and opens it.

"Your training revolves around discipline."

He drops something on the ground in front of him, and Ludwig looked up at it.

He felt an icy hand gripping his heart as he realized what it was.

 _A skull._

He felt something rise up in his throat and he lifted his gloved hand to his mouth.

The skull was marked with a name and something else.

 _Phillip Henlein_

 _Failed to obey the rules._

"Your training revolves around punctuality." He drops another one.

 _Killian Strauss_

 _Failed to report to roll call._

"Your training revolves around strength."

 _Edgar Loewe_

 _Failed to withstand training._

"And most importantly, your training revolves around respect."

He dropped one more. This skull was different though. Ludwig noticed it had a huge crack at the top, and several teeth were missing.

 _Arnold Mann_

 _Directly disobeyed his commanding officer's orders._

Ludwig swallowed hard and closed his eyes.

"Do I make my point clear?"

"Yes, sir." He tried as hard as he could to hide how horrified he was, but Ludwig knew it wasn't working.

"Good. That is your training for today. You may go to your dorm. Doctor Steinman will escort you." He turned to the building, but he couldn't bring himself to stand. "Doctor Steinman!" he yelled.

He heard her run out to the field.

"Yes sir!"

"Take our new student to his dorm."

There was a moment of silence.

"Is he… Injured?" She asked, obviously confused at Ludwig's position.

"No, why do you ask?"

"No reason!" She responded quickly. He heard some steps toward him, then a warm hand on his back.

"Ludwig?" He heard her say quietly. "Come on, you should rest."

He finally got up, snapping himself out of his daze. "Yeah. Thanks."

Petra helps him up, and she directed him to the south building and showed him his dorm. Not too bad overall, he thought. A simple bed with a blanket, a table.

But one thing put Ludwig off about it all.

The color.

The room was completely white. Ludwig couldn't help but to shudder at the coldness of it all.

He saw his dinner on the table, or rather, his "dinner."

It was a simple baked potato with a fork on the plate. Next to it was a glass of water.

"You sure you'll be okay? You seem kinda dazed." Petra asked.

"No… I'm okay." He lied, sitting on the bed. "But don't you think he changed a lot after I woke up?"

"Yeah… I don't know why, but it seems like he's acting much calmer."

"Should I be worried?"

She hesitated before answering. "I don't know. He's never like this. We'll have to wait and see."

He shrugged. "Yeah. We'll see."

She smiled nervously and walked over to the door.

"Well, sweet dreams!"

" _Gute Nacht."_ He replied.

She left the room closing the door behind her.

He let himself crash on the bed, and let out a deep breath.

" _What suddenly happened to Viktor? I thought he hated my guts..."_

He got up again, realizing he really should eat something, even if his "training" made him lose his appetite.

He picked up the fork and started to mash the potato, eating it and washing it down with the glass of water.

It was his first dinner away from home.

He couldn't help but to think of what madam would have for dinner.

" _Probably using the money she got from taking care of me to have a feast."_ He thought, rolling his eyes.

He got up and placed the dishes to the side, took off his uniform and folded it, keeping it neat for tomorrow. He settled into bed, nervously wondering what tomorrow's training will be.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks to _.number.12_ for following my content, I appreciate it. **

**I'll give a warning here before we start; again, I know this story is already rated M for Horror, but this chapter has some pretty bad levels of violence in it. Just be cautioned. I like to try giving these warnings as much as I can so that people enjoy what they like and avoid what makes them uncomfortable.**

 **Anyway, chapter 4. Enjoy.**

* * *

Ludwig's training didn't seem to get any more unusual than that day with the skulls. It was often very exhausting training, but he knew he was getting used to it. So far he'd learned a lot of basic combat, maneuvering, and his stamina had increased. It was at the cost of lots of bruises, but Ludwig wasn't too unfamiliar with getting a beating now and then. Not to mention Anselma had secretly placed a first-aid kit in his room to help him.

He got up at six-o'clock sharp, the scheduled time for training. He put his uniform on and went outside immediately. Ludwig learned to adapt to having no breakfast rather quickly. Nations don't necessarily need to eat, and Viktor seemed to be exploiting this as much as possible. Just dinner was all he was given.

Dinner of a chosen vegetable with water…

" _At least I only have to be here for a year. I can take a year."_ He thought, approaching Viktor and kneeling.

" _Guten Tag_ , Commander."

"Good morning, Ludwig. Today's training will be a little different."

Ludwig felt anxiousness seeping out from the corners of his mind.

"I will be right back, Ludwig. Stay here please."

" _What is he doing? What does he plan to do?"_ His mind raced.

He forced himself to stay calm as he blocked the questions out of his mind.

He came walking back, but Ludwig's eyes narrowed as he heard _three_ feet.

The other foot was struggling, and he could hear frightened gasps.

"Ludwig, lift your head." He orders.

"Yes si-"

Ludwig froze.

A young girl in rags, 12 years old at most, was being held by the wrist and gagged.

And Viktor had her at gunpoint.

"Sir-"

"This girl has a problem with her leg. She was flawed from birth." He said in a casual tone.

Ludwig's eyes darted down towards the artificial, metal limb, quickly looking back to Viktor.

"Her disability weighs down the society she lives in, costing the hard working, healthy people their earned livings."

Ludwig's eyes narrowed at Viktor nervously, not understanding where he was going with this.

"In order for the society to thrive, we must eliminate the weak links."

" _No no, sir, don't do this…"_

The girl's eyes shut tight and she squirmed in his arms, terrified at Viktor's strong grip.

"Kill her."

Ludwig stayed silent for a moment.

"What?"

"Focus on your target and method."

"Sir, I fail to understand what you expect me to do here." Ludwig said, keeping his tone calm and urgent, trying hard not to raise his voice.

"Nations… they have a power… one that allows them to pick out the weaker, liabilities of their populations and destroy them."

Ludwig only stared, having a slightly defensive look on his face.

"Focus on her and kill her."

"Sir, she hasn't committed any-"

" _Do it!_ " He hissed.

Ludwig saw the girl stare at him with pleading blue eyes, mirroring his own, and he felt his heart sink.

His eyes narrowed at Viktor, and Ludwig felt himself reaching for his combat knife and he approached the girl.

She gave a muffled cry as she tried to squirm away.

"Good, Ludwig." Viktor praised.

Ludwig focused on the girl's pleading eyes, noticing every detail of her irises, her scared expression, and how all they seemed to ask of him was to _let her live-_

Immediately, the blonde slashed Viktor's arm, and Ludwig elbowed his shoulder, causing him to drop the girl. She fell on the ground, and attempted to drag herself away, unable to walk without her prosthetic.

Viktor wrestled with his student, the 17 year old swiftly attempting to disarm him, and then holding him in a full nelson.

" _Run!"_ Ludwig yelled to her in a desperate tone, as she could only continue to crawl. " _Run! Please… please,_ _ **please**_ …"

Ludwig hopelessly stared at her, knowing she couldn't run too far.

But he kept his master in check, hoping, _praying_ that she would get to safety.

Viktor gritted his teeth angrily at his student's actions, as he pulled at Ludwig's fingers, unhinging them from his grasp. He pulled at Ludwig's arm and painfully held it behind his back as he kicked him to the ground, dislocating it from his shoulder.

Ludwig gave a choked cry as he lay there fallen to the floor.

He struggled to get up, desperately straining his arm, _I have to get up, she's-_

A gunshot cracked through the air.

Ludwig's heart stopped and his eyes widened.

His world went silent and he felt as if his time stopped as he looked at the girl with a red wound blooming out of her back.

Tiny droplets of water started to fall from the sky, raining down on her corpse, wetting her brown hair and mixing with the tears on her face…

Her pale blue eyes wide with terror.

 _No… No, please…_

His reality shattered as his master held him up by his collar.

"What did you think you were doing…" He growled at the boy.

Ludwig's eyes narrowed angrily at his master, and he didn't respond to the question.

"Did you think you were going to save her? She deserved to be saved, like an angel, did she?!"

Ludwig's features sharpened on his face, and he ripped out of his master's hold, only to be kicked to the ground again.

He grabbed Ludwig's chin and yanked it upwards to face him.

"Your actions would never create a proper country. Such behaviour will not be tolerated here. Understood?" He hissed.

Ludwig still didn't answer him.

"Fine." He growled, throwing him into the mud. "We have ways of dealing with insubordination here. Take off your jacket."

Ludwig was still unwilling.

"It would be nice if someone would actually do things themselves here."

He seized Ludwig's hair and ripped his uniform jacket and shirt off, throwing them into the mud, leaving him with only his undershirt.

Viktor unsheathes his knife, grabs the wrist of Ludwig's good arm, and turned him around so he could face his back.

Ludwig's eyes widen, realizing what his master planned to do with the knife.

Viktor digs the sharp, thick blade into the center of his back and makes sure to pull it very slowly into a horizontal cut.

He let out a bloodcurdling scream.

"You think this is some 'save the innocent game?' _No!_ You have to show the rest of them how strong you are and if you want to do that, _no weakness can be tolerated!"_ He yelled.

Ludwig clenched his teeth in frustration.

"You are weak and you are going to stay that way if you don't realize that."

He finally pulls the knife out of the blonde's back and pushes him into the mud.

He walked away, shaking his head sadly.

Ludwig lay there in that spot, letting the rain sting the gash on his back, exhausted and frustrated with his own failure.

But then he remembered the girl's corpse, her body lying there in the rain.

He brought himself to his feet and ran towards the girl on the ground, sliding onto his knees next to her.

His stomach immediately lurched at the sight.

He picked her up and looked at her frozen blue eyes, damp with rain and tears. He took off his gloves and wiped them away and brought his hand up to close her eyes, not realizing his how his hand shook.

 _How pathetic…_

 _She was right in front of you…_

 _He's right…_

 _You_ _ **are**_ _weak._

"Ludwig!"

Petra was running out to where he was, holding bandages and an umbrella.

But Ludwig's eyes were locked on the little girl.

"Ludwig, thank goodness." She held the umbrella over the two of them as she pulled out the bandages. "I heard you scream from the clinic and-" She gasped as she saw the little girl in his arms.

"D-did he…"

He looked up at her and slowly nodded his head.

Suddenly Petra's face changed, and Ludwig never thought he saw her look so sad.

"Ludwig…"

She kneeled down next to him and held his head in her hands, startling Ludwig as she brushed something off his face…

Ludwig didn't realize he had been crying.

Petra wrapped her arms around the injured boy, but he felt something snap in his heart when he felt her kind arms enveloping him.

He winced at the comfort, pushing her away, and he shielded his face with his hand, his head down.

Petra stayed silent for a few seconds.

"It's not your fault Ludwig."

But Ludwig completely disregarded her, feeling a weight dragging him down.

"Right." Ludwig said blankly.

"Come on then. We need to get that cut treated."

She held her hand out to him.

"Wait."

"What is it?"

Ludwig looked back at the girl.

"Can we… Can we bury her?"

She looked back to the clinic, then at him again.

"If we hurry."

He nodded and she helped him up.

"Thank you, Petra."

"Don't mention it."

 _"I was wrong._

 _I'll be lucky if I survive another day here."_


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys. Another shorter, but pretty eventful chapter.**

 **Once again, a very violent chapter. Beware.**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

This place... Ludwig couldn't believe the horrors concealed within it for him to discover over the course of a full year. The nurses are beaten, the commander is a psycho, and the training…

Oh, the training... It wasn't even the training he was told he would receive anymore. His test to see if Ludwig would kill someone or not became _weekly._ Ludwig would try some other maneuver on Viktor, another plan, another diversion, _anything..._ He always failed. Viktor would make a mark on his back with his knife just below the last one, and Ludwig's back had become a line of scars.

Ludwig despised him so much. Every moment after Viktor would strike him or see him hurt, he would tell him that this was for the best and that he just cared about how he led his country.

'Ludwig, this is for your own good.'

'Ludwig, you mustn't be weak.'

'Ludwig, I just want you to do well.'

 _Ludwig,_

 _Ludwig,_

 _ **Ludwig…**_

He hated the way Viktor talked to him like he was his friend. He hated the way he treats the nurses, he hated how he acted almost _parental_ toward him. He couldn't take it anymore. He had been avoiding telling the nurses of the things that Viktor was doing…

Why should he.

They couldn't fight him.

Why get them hurt, anyway.

But it was finally over.

Ludwig was finally leaving this place, and while he hoped that one day he could come back for the staff, he just wanted to get this over with. He expected to wake up in his shitty, whitewashed bed with his uniform sitting neatly folded in front of him.

But he wasn't… he was somehow all dressed, both hands bound to a thick metal pole in the field. He felt as if someone had called his name, but then he realized there was a piece of cloth tied over his eyes…

"Ludwig, you careless boy, you didn't wake up on your own today!" Viktor scolded playfully.

Ludwig immediately reacted to the stabbing fear in his chest and he struggled desperately with the chains as he heard Viktor coming closer. He kneeled and took the blindfold off of his blue eyes, wide with terror.

"There, that wasn't so bad, was it?"

He backed away and let him observe his situation.

Ludwig insides went cold at the sight in front of him.

 _The nurses. All ten of them. Bound and gagged sitting on the ground in a perfectly neat line._

Erica, Claudia, Marlene, Jacqueline, Paulina, Diana, Anne, Felicia,

Anselma,

And Petra.

He walked over to Petra first, holding his loaded pistol to her shoulder.

"Welcome to your graduation test, Ludwig."

"W-What are you doing?" He muttered.

"Well, I decided to kick up the tests a notch, considering you were completely unresponsive to any of them."

"You still think I can kill? You seriously still think I can look at someone and make their heart stop? What you're talking about is literally bullshit..." Ludwig retorted sharply. "How would you know what a country is capable of?"

"Oh, Ludwig. I don't _think_ you can. I _know_ you can."

"What makes you so sure?" Ludwig hissed.

"Because I can."

Ludwig froze.

 _H-He can? Then he's a…_

 _No. That's impossible._

 _The scars on his back that weren't going away…_

 _His persistent attitude..._

"No…" Ludwig muttered.

"Yes." The former Germany sneered. "My name was Germany once. But my existence was weakened and passed off after I was destroyed by a neighboring country that defeated me. I was a country that was going to be so great… But when I found out you would be the next one during your coma, I was so pleased." He said.

"You're like a _son_ to me, Ludwig."

Ludwig tensed at the sound of the word, feeling his stomach turn.

"I had made it my duty to train and prepare the next Germany for the task, which comes with the ultimate ability; _killing on sight._ " He said, almost fascinated with the very words. "The truth is, I don't even need my gun to kill her. If I focus, I can kill her however I want. But this time, I'm going to drown her. Would you like to see, Ludwig?"

" _Don't you dare!_ " I barked.

Petra stared at Viktor in horror as her green eyes spilled tears.

" _NO!_ "

The air suddenly became quiet and stiff as Viktor focused all of his energy onto Petra.

Petra's gaze faltered, and water was pouring out of her gagged mouth.

 _He was drowning her._

 _ **Drowning her.**_

 _It shouldn't be possible, but he's doing it._

 _I don't understand._

 _Why is he killing her?_

 _At the cost of her life, is it worth it to teach me?_

 _No._

 _No, this wasn't worth anything._

"Ludwig, isn't this great?" He remarked.

Ludwig felt an odd snapping feeling in his chest, and he looked up at Viktor with a blank, stern expression.

" _ **No."**_

Viktor stopped suddenly and stared off into the distance. Petra stopped drowning, and she choked the water out of her lungs.

" _ **This is for your own good."**_ He mocked.

He collapsed to the floor.

" _ **You mustn't be weak."**_

He grabbed his throat and started to smile.

" _ **After all,"**_

Ludwig pulled at the chains, barely spending any effort on breaking them, and he walked towards Viktor as the chains dangled from his bleeding wrists.

" _ **I thought that was my job."**_

Ludwig kneeled down and grabbed the man's collar, maintaining his cold glare.

Viktor looked up at the blonde, struggling to breathe and still smiling.

" _Ich gratuliere, Deutschland_." He choked.

"You're a killer." He revealed, letting out a choked cackle.

Ludwig's eyes widened, part of him still conscious, and he clenched his teeth.

" _ **ENOUGH!"**_

His eyes rolled backwards and his arms fell from his throat.

Ludwig blinked his eyes as he stared at Viktor's corpse in disbelief.

 _No… NO!_

He dropped Viktor to the ground, and his hands were in his hair, staring at what he'd done.

 _No no no this can't be happening…_

 _I said I would never be like him that's what I promised myself_

 _but I killed with almost no control…_

 _ **Just like he wanted me to...**_

He took his hands off his head to realize that they were soaked in _blood_ and his head felt awful…

He looked at his wrists, all cut up and bruised from the chains.

 _How did I even do any of this?_

Ludwig froze in place and suddenly turned his head to the nurses.

All of them stared in absolute horror.

 _Why wouldn't they?  
You __**murdered**_ _someone, Ludwig._

 _ **You're a murderer.**_

Ludwig's head felt heavy, and dizziness took over his mind as he fell to the ground and his eyelids fell.


	6. Extra Chapter 5

**New chapter again. Same violence warning as last time.**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

"He's graduating today!" Petra says to Tenenbaum, the elder packing his bag. "I'm so happy he'll be able to get out of this place, and be successful, and not be killed nearly every day!"

"Yeah. I'm really happy for him too." The brunette responded.

"Maybe we'll see him again!" She cried.

Tenenbaum laughed, pondering the idea. "Yeah, hopefully not here though."

"Yeah." She laughed, looking around in her bag.

" _What could I give Ludwig to have him remember us by?"_ Tenenbaum thought.

Petra decided that the two of them would each give him something to thank him for being such a great friend.

The older of the two thought that it was a little bit of a childish concept, but she couldn't help but to participate in Petra's naive ideas now and then.

"That's it!" Petra cried.

She stuffed her hand into the bottom of the bag.

"I'll give him my best cake recipe."

"Why cake?" The brunette asked.

"I don't know… Whenever I bake a cake, it always makes me feel better when I'm stressed about something. Maybe It'll work that way for him."

Tenenbaum chuckled and continued packing Ludwig's bag.

"Aren't you going to pack him something Ten?"

"Yeah, I'm trying to think of something I can give to him."

But she couldn't think of any ideas. Except…

" _That's it._ " She thought.

"I think I know what I can give him."

She reached into her dresser drawer and picked up a brass pocket watch with a filigree lid, designed like a snowflake with 12 arms instead of six and openings at all of the hours.

"What's that?" Petra asks.

"It's my pocketwatch."

"You mean the one you've been carrying around forever?"

"Yes." She answered bluntly.

"Really Anselma? You're okay with giving that away?" She said, shocked that she'd give away such a personally valuable object.

"Can I see it?"

"Of course." She carefully handed the watch over to her.

She inspects it for a second. "This design is lovely!"

Tenenbaum smiled at her childish glee. Petra handed it back to her along with her recipe and Tenenbaum closed his bag.

She stared at the bag, feeling like his presence was already disappearing, and she felt a wave of sadness wash over her.

"I'll miss him." Petra said, looking to her feet.

Tenenbaum kept her eyes on the bag. "Me too."

The both of them stayed silent for a moment, before the brunette heard Petra gasp, and she spun around.

Viktor was holding a rag up to Petra's mouth and gripping her arm.

"I'll miss him too." He said sorrowfully.

Petra went limp and Viktor caught her as her knees buckled.

He held a gun to her temple.

"Will you please come with me, Tenenbaum? I would hate to have to carry both of you."

Tenenbaum scowled. "Yes sir."

"Thank you."

The three of them got out to the field and Tenenbaum swallowed when she saw that he had tied up the rest of the nurses in a straight line. She continued to walk with Viktor and see another body tied up across from the nurses.

The flash of blonde hair became clear as she walked in front of the scene.

 _Ludwig._

Tenenbaum was amazed at how he had fallen asleep through all of this, but then shuddered when she realized that Viktor most likely drugged him up.

Viktor gestured toward the ground for her to sit, and then he swiftly tied up her arms and gagged her.

"Don't get any funny ideas." He says coldly. "I'm going to teach him something important."

He tied up Petra next to her and he wakes her with a slap to the face, her green eyes springing awake. She looked around, looking confused and scared and Tenenbaum heard her gasp at the sight of Ludwig across from them. She looked over and tried to tell Tenenbaum something, but she couldn't understand a thing with that gag over her mouth.

"Silence." Viktor hissed, looking at his watch. "He's overslept." He muttered to himself.

"Ludwig!"

The boy jerks awake, and carefully starts to pull at the chains on his wrists, looking confused.

"Ludwig, you careless boy, you didn't wake up on your own today!" Viktor teased.

Ludwig freezes up at the voice, his chest heaving. Viktor starts to walk towards him and in realizing this, Ludwig begins to thrash around, arms tugging at the restraints and legs kicking at the sandy ground.

Tenenbaum stared at the panicked and her heart sank. She had never seen him this afraid of something before.

" _What has Viktor been doing to this boy?"_ She thought.

Viktor takes the blindfold off of Ludwig's face and takes a few steps back.

"There, that wasn't so bad, was it?"

Ludwig looked around, absorbing his surroundings, but as soon as he saw us, his blue eyes widened and he froze.

Viktor walked over to Petra, pointing his loaded pistol to her shoulder.

"Welcome to your graduation test, Ludwig."

"W-What are you doing?" He muttered nervously.

"Well, I decided to kick up the tests a notch, considering you were completely unresponsive to any of them."

"You still think I can kill? You seriously still think I can look at someone and make their heart stop? What you're talking about is literally bullshit..." Ludwig answered sharply, his voice lowering angrily.

 _Kill? Ludwig hasn't told us about any of that…_

"How would you know what a country is capable of?"

"Oh, Ludwig. I don't _think_ you can. I _know_ you can."

"What makes you so sure?" Ludwig hissed.

"Because I can."

Ludwig froze.

 _No… the mysterious training, the friendly attitude…_

 _He can't be…_

"No…" Ludwig said under his breath.

"Yes." Viktor sneered. "My name was Germany once. But my existence was weakened and passed off after I was destroyed by a neighboring country that defeated me. I was a country that was going to be so great… But when I found out you would be the next one during your coma, I was so pleased." He said.

"You're like a _son_ to me, Ludwig."

"I had made it my duty to train and prepare the next Germany for the task, which comes with the ultimate ability; _killing on sight._ " He said, seeming pleased with himself. "The truth is, I don't even need my gun to kill her. If I focus, I can kill her however I want. But this time, I'm going to drown her. Would you like to see, Ludwig?"

" _Don't you dare!_ " Ludwig barked.

Petra stared at Viktor in horror as her green eyes spilled tears.

" _NO!_ " Ludwig screamed from the metal pole, still tugging at the chains.

The air suddenly became quiet and stiff as Viktor focused all of his energy onto Petra.

Her gaze faltered, and water was pouring out of her gagged mouth.

She choked and squirmed in Viktor's hold, and Tenenbaum could only stare, her eyes wide with horror as her friend struggled to breathe.

"Ludwig, isn't this great?" He remarked.

Tenenbaum shook her head and looked away, unable to watch anymore.

"No."

Tenenbaum's head quickly turned to Ludwig, who had an eerily calm glare on his face, and his eyes seemed cold, and not like anything Tenenbaum was used to seeing in him.

 _What is he..._

Her head snapped back to Viktor, who had stopped suddenly, and stared off into the distance. Petra stopped drowning, and she began to choke the water out of her lungs.

 _"This is for your own good."_ Ludwig mocked.

Viktor collapsed to the floor.

" _You mustn't be weak."_

He grabbed his throat and started to smile.

"After all,"

Ludwig pulled at the chains, barely spending any effort on breaking them, and he walked towards Viktor as the chains dangled from his bleeding wrists.

"I thought that was my job."

Ludwig kneeled down and grabbed the man's collar, his cold stare intimidating Tenenbaum, when she noticed that his head was _bleeding..._

Viktor looked up at the blonde, struggling to breathe and still smiling.

" _Ich gratuliere... Deutschland_." He choked.

"You're... a kil-ler." He revealed, letting out a choked cackle.

Ludwig's eyes widened, Tenenbaum seeing a little bit of his usual self, before his face's features sharpened furiously.

" _ENOUGH!"_

Viktor's eyes rolled back and his arms went limp, his hands leaving their position on his throat.

Tenenbaum couldn't believe her eyes.

Viktor was dead.

Ludwig's eyes blinked as he stared at Viktor's corpse in disbelief.

He went pale, dropping Viktor to the ground, and his hands were in his hair, staring at what he'd done.

"No…" She heard him mutter.

"No… no no _no NO!"_

His hands moved to his face, his whole body shaking.

After a few moments, he took his hands off his injured head and stared at the blood now covering his hands.

He froze suddenly, and turned his head to the nurses.

All they could do was stare.

And to Tenenbaum it felt like hours that Ludwig was staring at them, with that almost apologetic expression on his face.

He grabbed his head in agony and his breathing weakened as he collapsed in the dirt, his eyes closed.

Unconscious.

But no one moved.

They all stayed completely still glued to their spots, for at least a minute, scared that if they moved, something else would happen.

Tenenbaum shook her head in disappointment at the lack of action being taken.

She reached her bound hands under her legs and pulled off the rag covering her mouth.

She stood up, facing all of her partners.

"Well, if you don't mind, I'm going to go help our patient. Would anyone like to join me?"

None of them moved.

"Fine. That's just perfect."

She took a few steps back toward Ludwig.

"Field nurses. Abandoning a patient."

She took a few more steps.

"Abandoning a friend."

A few of them shot her angry glares. Some rolled their eyes.

Some looked ashamed.

"That's okay. I can treat him myself. I can do my job 10 times better than you lot."

She kneeled next to the boy, narrowing her eyes.

"I'd never trust deserters to do a doctor's job anyway." She muttered.

As she began to check for a pulse on Ludwig's body, she finally realized that Petra was shuffling her feet around in the sand, trying to untie her wrists, and trying to get the rag off of her mouth.

Tenenbaum smiled and untied the emerald eyed girl's wrists and untied the gag.

They gave each other reassuring looks.

"Ready for duty as always, partner." She said, grinning determinedly.

Tenenbaum held Petra close, suddenly feeling so happy that she was smiling again and that her eyes were still glowing with life, the image of Petra's drowning self haunting her.

"Thank you. I'm glad you're okay." She murmured.

"No problem." Petra said gratefully.

She held her by her shoulders and nodded reassuringly, reaching to Ludwig's neck again to check his heart rate.

All she felt was a weak, slow pulse, almost feeling like his heart was too tired to work properly.

"Okay. Whatever… that was that he did to Viktor, I think it used up a lot of his energy. He's fading, and we need to get him on life support. His fast recovery is legendary, but he seems to need a little help for it to be successful. Petra, lift on three."

The two of them waited at each end of his body.

"One, two, _three!_ "

Tenenbaum lifted at his shoulders, and Petra took the legs.

"Let's go." She said, walking backwards towards the doorway, the other nurses staring at her expectantly to untie them.

"Help yourselves, ladies." She said condescendingly as the two of them disappeared into the facility.


	7. Chapter 6

**Aaand this chapter officially completes the rewerite of part one! Thanks to everyone for sticking with me through this, especially all of the plan changes.**

 **It might be a couple days before a new chapter comes out, but don't worry, I won't be too late.**

 **Enjoy, I'll see you guys in a bit.**

* * *

As soon as Ludwig opened his eyes, he felt warmth enveloping him, and he looked down to see Petra hugging him with extraordinary strength, and he could feel her shaky hand in his hair. Ludwig lay in shock, listening to Petra tearfully muttering sweet nothings in German.

"P-Petra? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, _Kind…_ I'm just happy you made it." She said, grasping the fabric of his tank top.

He looked over towards Tenenbaum who was crying too.

Ludwig felt dazed as he tried to figure out what was going on around him.

He was in his own room… but how did he even get here...

Petra let go of his uniform, held him by the shoulders, and kissed him on his forehead.

Ludwig felt his face turn scarlet, and he turned away, shocked by the unexpected motion, getting him a laugh from Tenenbaum.

"What are you so excited abou-" Diana said as she walked into the room, but she froze immediately when she saw Ludwig's face.

"Diana? What's wro-"

"Stay back..." She said fiercely.

Ludwig shot her a confused, cautious look.

"Diana-"

"Don't!" She cautiously backed out of the room and then ran.

He looked to Petra, expecting some kind of explanation, but then he heard Diana answer his question.

 _"He's back from the dead! He'll kill us!"_ He heard echoing through the halls.

" _Back from the dead? Kill them?"_ He thought to himself, confused for a moment.

" _Oh._

 _That's right._

 _I killed Viktor._

 _I did exactly what he wanted me to."_

Tenenbaum walked over to close the door.

"Pay no attention to my so-called colleagues. They're all pathetic."

Petra's eyes narrowed and she looked towards the ground bitterly.

"What does she mean, back from the dead? What happened?"

The two women looked at each other, and made sorrowful glances.

"You… your heart stopped when we were working with you after what happened."

Ludwig's eyes widened.

"We tried to revive you several times, but it didn't seem to be working. We thought you were gone." Tenenbaum stopped for a moment. "So we brought you in here, thinking we'd have to…"

She swallowed, breaking eye contact with him.

"Bury you."

Ludwig's heart sank, and all of them remained silent for almost a minute as Tenenbaum turned away for a moment to pull herself together.

"I'm sorry I put you through all that." Ludwig said as he sat on the edge of his bed next to Petra trying to find the right words to use, in this rather foreign situation. "I didn't realize… how much you… "

"How much we care about you?" Petra said, holding his hand.

Ludwig felt his insides knotting just looking at her, her green eyes shining with sympathy.

He remembered how madam would always tell him the opposite.

Then he remembered when Viktor would tell him the same, but how differently he would show it.

But now he was looking at Petra Steinman.

And he'd never seen a pair of more caring eyes directed at him.

"I-"

"Ludwig…"

He didn't say anything, as he felt a silver tear streaming down his cheek, and he brought his hand up to wipe it away.

Tenenbaum stared at him, shocked at his current state.

"I-I'm sorry… I don't know what's gotten into me…" He muttered, his chest rising and falling at a faster pace.

"Ludwig, don't apologize-"

"I'm so sorry, but can I have a moment? Alone?" He said, blinking away the tears in his eyes.

"We can help you, it's-"

" _Please."_ Ludwig interrupted again, turning his head away again, his teeth clenched.

The two of them walked slowly to the door, discouraged, and Petra took one last solemn look at the boy before she walked out behind Tenenbaum.

As soon as Ludwig heard the door shut, he turned to look at it, slightly regretting that he sent them away.

"You should have expected this…" He said to himself, leaning his head on his hands.

"But I didn't expect them to…" He said, his head up again and his voice shaking. "I didn't expect them to try so hard to bring me back, I didn't expect them to cry when I didn't wake up… I didn't expect them to show me nothing but kindness regardless of the fact that I've given them _nothing…"_

He covered his face, frustrated and confused at the tears that continued to fall down his face.

"Nothing… I deserve nothing as valuable as their kindness…"

Petra sat outside of the room, expecting to hear nothing.

But as she heard him venting to himself, she covered her mouth and felt her stomach tie in knots as she felt a few tears make their way down her face again, but she quickly wiped them away.

"Ludwig, please… you've given us so much more than you think…" She mumbled to herself.

* * *

"I'm supposed to go to Berlin to officially be put into my role. Then I'll officially be the country's personification on paper. Would you call me a taxi, please?"

"Ludwig, don't you think you should rest after what happened to you, your body is still probably weak from when it shut down."

"I'm okay. I'll be in a car, anyway, it'll be fine."

"Right." She said averting her eyes from his, walking out of his room.

He closed the door behind her, taking a sigh of relief.

* * *

After a few minutes, Ludwig had just finished putting on his suit and he was adjusting the red necktie, when Petra knocked on the door.

"Come in." He said, picking up his comb.

Petra opened the door and walked in.

"I called the taxi." She said.

"Oh, thanks." He answered, keeping his back to her. He slicked his hair back with his comb, making sure none of the hairs were out of place.

From across the room, Petra noticed how strange it was to see him wearing something other than his uniform.

Other than that though, he still seemed off to her somehow.

Still, from just yesterday when he had asked them to leave.

And she had heard him talking to himself.

She was so worried.

She was so worried that it hurt.

She walked up to him and put her hand on his back.

Ludwig tensed and stared at the wall.

" _You're a killer…"_ The terrifying voice echoed through Ludwig's head.

"Hey, are you alright?"

Ludwig tensed his neck and breathed for a moment.

 _That's Petra, Ludwig._

"I'm fine." He said, adjusting his tie again.

"Are you sure?" Petra urged. "Because since yesterday, you haven't been acting like yourself, and we're both just worried about you."

Ludwig swallowed, and his eyes darted across the room, looking for an answer.

"Ludwig, I know what's wrong. Last night I was waiting to see if you were okay outside of your room."

He shot a shocked look at her.

"I'm sorry for that… but why would you say such awful things about yourself?"

Ludwig still didn't answer, and he turned towards the door.

"I-I'll go check for the taxi-"

"No, Ludwig, _please…"_ She grabbed his hand.

"Please… talk to me…"

He stopped and turned around again, Petra leading him to sit down on the edge of the bed.

"Do you really think that no one should _care_ about you?"

Ludwig finally spoke.

"Kindness is earned, Petra. Can you think of anything I've done to deserve your kindness?"

"Ludwig… you are such a kind and caring person yourself."

She ran a careful hand over his back.

"All of those victims that Viktor cruelly murdered… what did you do about it?"

"I failed, Petra." He says, his eyes narrowing.

"No, Ludwig, you _cared._ What did they do to earn your kindness?"

"They needed help-"

"Did they help you? Did you know them? No. But you knew that they needed help and you intended to do that.

Whatever the cost was to yourself."

Ludwig's eyes narrowed, staring at his lap.

"That's why we care Ludwig. Because all you ever seem to do is care. You cared when Viktor would hurt us, you constantly tried so hard to save people, you saved _me._

the only thing you never seemed to care about was yourself.

And you're sitting here telling me that I shouldn't care about you?"

" _My health isn't as important as yours…"_ He thought to himself, not daring to say it.

"Now, I don't care what you say, but I'm not about to stop caring about you. You matter to me."

"Okay?"

She stood him up and gave him a hug, Ludwig still wanting to say so much about how _wrong_ she was _she was… so wrong…_

But he couldn't bring herself to be angry at her. No matter how much he wanted to, he wouldn't.

"Now then… that taxi might just be close now. But before you leave, please talk to Anselma. She's bad at feelings like you but she shares every word I just said."

He looked away, but he nodded his head.

She smiled warmly, and opened the door.

"Come on. Let's go."

Ludwig took one last look at his room before he followed Petra outside.


	8. Phase 2- Chapter 1

**Heh, I lied. This took a lot less time than I expected.**

 **Thanks to _Seele Esser Deutsch_ for her continued support in the reviews, I appreciate it. **

**Here's Part 2! Enjoy!**

* * *

 _"You better meet up with us in the city, got it?! Don't forget about us!"_

"We're here sir!"

Ludwig was brought back from his thoughts by the driver.

"O-Oh. Thank you."

"No problem!" The man said. Ludwig got out of the car and the man drove away.

As soon as he turned to face the building, Ludwig stood in shock at the huge structure covered in decor and beautiful landscaping.

He slowly walked up the steps to the door and brought up his hand to knock but he heard something from inside.

"Jeez Old Man Fritz, why do you have me getting up _this early_ to get dressed? The _awesome_ Prussia needs to have a proper sleep until 2 PM. Waking up at 10 AM is the last thing I need."

"We're having a new friend staying with us now. Germany is coming today, remember?"

Ludwig knocked once, but the door just leaned open. He hesitantly walked into the house, still listening to the voices.

"Germany? You mean you found him? Ughhhh…"

Ludwig followed the voices and observed the interior of the house as he did, swearing he'd walked into a castle.

The floors were made of marble and there were chandeliers everywhere. Every door he could see was made made of Mahogany wood.

"I swear, if I have to live with that monster Viktor again, kill me now."

Ludwig froze.

He followed the voice until he found the door that the noise was coming from.

"You're too hard on him, Gilbert, whoever Germany may be, he's still your brother."

" _I'm what?!"_ Ludwig thought.

"Besides, we don't know it's Viktor. You might have a new brother."

"Oh please. That creep Viktor is probably at our door right-"

The door in front of Ludwig opened. A man a little older than him (but shorter) with white hair and red-violet eyes stood at the door.

"now…" He finished.

Ludwig didn't know what to say. He just burst into this residence without even notifying he was there.

"I… Forgive me I just-"

"No, stop!" He ordered, and the blonde froze. Gilbert examined his face for a couple seconds. Then he looked shocked.

"You're Germany?"

"Y-yes…" He answered.

He looked back at 'Old Man Fritz.'

"This isn't Viktor." He said to him, shocked.

"I told you." The man sighed.

He looked back at Ludwig.

"My little brother, huh?" He muttered. He flashed Ludwig a smirk and a small yellow bird landed on Gilbert's head. It gave Ludwig an odd look and chirped.

"Well, let's get started."

* * *

"So! That's the whole place! How do you like it?" His 'brother' asked.

But Ludwig had accidentally spaced off looking at all of the beautiful chandeliers.

" _I bet even master couldn't afford this place with all of the wealth she has…"_ He thought.

"Uhh, you alright there, bug eyes?"

" _Shit-"_

"Oh- Excuse me, it's beautiful."

"No need to act so surprised, I'm sure you lived somewhere even cooler."

He looked away nervously.

"You mean… You didn't?"

"I… uh…-"

"Prussia, you forgot one part of the tour." Old Man Fritz said from behind him.

"Well, what could _the amazing Prussia_ have possibly forgotten?" He asked.

"You forgot to show him his room, you dolt."

"Well… I… I was getting to that!" He replied nervously.

He grabbed Ludwig's gloved hand and walked to the west hall.

He led him to the room and opened the door.

"Welcome to your personal suite!"

Immediately at the sight of it, Ludwig stared in awe at the large room, now to be his own… he couldn't believe the idea of having this much space to himself.

"Well, you have a nice, bright room here, there's _wine red_ walls," He said in a sophisticated voice. "A balcony, a nice bed with black bed sheets, a dresser, closet…"

Ludwig stopped hearing his voice, too distracted to pay attention. The room's space and decor filling his mind as he looked all around the room, often spinning his whole body to capture it all. But then Ludwig caught sight of the piano in the corner of the room.

It was painted ebony black and ivory white keys, with some music on it too.

" _I haven't played for so long…"_ He thought, staring at the keys longingly.

"Oh no… Sorry, the piano isn't supposed to be in here, I don't know what idiot ordered a piano-"

"No, wait!" Ludwig said quickly.

Prussia turned around.

"I…" He cleared his throat. "If it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you keep it in here?"

He and his bird shot Ludwig a confused look.

"S-sure…"

Ludwig bowed in his direction, putting his hand over his heart.

"Thank you very much for your kind hospitality."

"You're welcome…" He said. "To pay me back, don't ever bow like that again. It's weird… And unnecessary…"

Ludwig rose up to his regular posture.

"Excuse me for requesting something so-"

"Godammit, stop with that!"

The blonde flinched.

"Come on, I'm the amazing Prussia, but I'm not that amazing… don't be apologizing that much, we're supposed to be brothers."

Ludwig was surprised at how lightly he used the term brother…

"Alright… Then don't you have a human name? Something I could call you by that's more familiar?"

"Well, my name is Gilbert Beilschmidt. My little buddy sitting on my head here is Gilbird."

"Nice to be properly introduced. My name is Ludwig."

He looked at the boy oddly.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Don't you have a last name?"

"Er, No… Growing up I was never given one." He walked over to the bed, sitting on the edge.

"Oh." Gilbert said, almost regretting the question, knowing what what the orphaned boy meant. He walked over and sat next to him.

"Are you okay?"

He looked at his concerned violet-red eyes right next to him.

The image of Petra drowning flashed in Ludwig's mind.

Ludwig swallowed as his neck tensed up and his eyes blinked.

"Hey…" Gilbert said, leaning over to check on him.

Ludwig snapped himself out of it. "Yes, yes, I'm fine."

Both Gilbert and his bird were staring at him.

"You... sure?"

"Yeah. Don't worry about it." Ludwig said quickly. "In fact, I think I'd like to sit by myself for a while and admire how perfectly you chose my room."

Gilbert grinned, and turned away, looking at the room.

"Well, I can't blame you. My choices _are_ always perfect." He got up and walked to the door. Dinner's in half an hour. Change out of those clothes until then. Something more casual. I don't know what idiot told you to wear a suit… _and with the weird gloves and everything..._ " Ludwig heard him mutter at the end of his sentence.

"Thanks."

"Oh and remember, my room is right next to yours, so don't be shy if you need anything."

He shut the door and left.

He fell backwards onto the bed, lifting his hand to shield his face.

 _Great start, Dummkopf._

He looked back at his suitcase.

 _I better start unpacking._

He opened his bag and was immediately met with objects that didn't belong to him lying on top of his clothes.

 _They both gave me gifts…_

Ludwig mentally kicked himself for not thanking them, but he picked up the two things packed in the bag. A folded piece of lace paper with a recipe for _Donauwelle_ and a note next to it.

 _My friend Ludwig,  
I always loved to bake my mother's cake recipes when I was feeling down, it always cheered me up. I hope this will work the same way for you. _

_Be safe,_

 _Your friend Petra._

Ludwig couldn't help but to smile at her optimistic mannerisms. He looked at the other object. A velvet box with a note attached to it. He opened the note first.

 _Ludwig,_

 _You have such a great path ahead of you. I know you have a strong heart and always persevere even in the toughest times. We'll always be with you Ludwig, never forget that._

 _Anselma._

He never realized she could be this sentimental.

He picked up the box and opened it, finding a silver pocket watch inside with beautiful engravings on the metal.

Ludwig closed the box and put it on the end table.

" _I don't deserve friends this kind."_ He thought, pinching the bridge of his nose.

* * *

"What do you think his problem was, Gilbird?" Gilbert said, pacing his room. Gilbird gave an unsure chirp in agreement.

"Well, who cares anyway. It's not Viktor, and he actually seems like a cool guy. Y'know, if he wasn't so jumpy." He lay down on his bed, hands behind his head.

"I'll try to talk to him again later." He said, and then chuckled sarcastically to himself. "No one can resist the charm of the amazing Prussia-"

Gilbert froze at hearing the sound of a piano from the other side of his wall.

 _Is that... Ludwig? He sounds like a professional._

 _He might be one of the best piano players I've ever heard. Well, besides that pretentious jerk in the east..._

It had already been half an hour, so he went to check on Old Fritz and his dinner, but as soon as he left his room, all of the house's servants were bunched up outside of Ludwig's room, listening to him play. Old Fritz was walking down the corridor, when he noticed the group too.

"What on earth-" Fritz started.

"Shhhhhhhhh!" The cleaning maids hissed.

Ludwig finished the piece.

"Dinner's ready." Fritz called. "Gilbert, make sure Ludwig knows where to go."

"Got it." Gilbert answered.

Ludwig opened the door to his room and Gilbert grabbed his hand and led him to the dining room.

"Come on, man, dinner's ready. Unless you _enjoy_ not having anything to eat."

All of the servants fled, pretending they weren't listening.

Ludwig nodded, still stunned from the sudden guidance.

* * *

"Alright, here's the dining room."

Ludwig stared at the plates. All of them were completely full of different things he had never tried before. Fresh rolls, _properly_ cooked vegetables, and meats.

"Hey, are you gonna stare like that every time you see something? Come on, sit down."

"Oh, excuse me, I-"

Gilbert lightly swatted the back of Ludwig's head.

"Stop that." He said in a playfully stern voice.

Ludwig froze, having no idea how to respond to Gilbert's frustration.

"Fritz, help me here."

"It is true that you're apologizing quite excessively, Master Germany." Old Fritz said. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, really. I'm just not really used to this."

"Used to what?" Gilbert asked.

"Being so…"

Ludwig struggled with the word, this level hospitality he had never received before. He tried to think.

It was how Roderich made him feel as a child when he'd sneak off with him to learn piano.

It was how Petra made him feel when she would smile at him, how it would brighten his day.

It was how Tenenbaum made him feel when she would ruffle his hair...

"Welcomed…"

It was their turn to stare. Cruel realization stabbed through Gilbert as he realized this boy was never really taken care of. _  
_Now that he mentioned it, despite being rather muscular, Gilbert noticed he seemed slightly unfed.

"Well, this is your home now, Master Germany. Please sit down and have dinner with us." Old Fritz said, gesturing to the seats.

"Thank you, but please don't call me that. Just Ludwig is fine."

"Y'know," Gilbert said, walking over to his seat. "It's about time you had a last name. I mean you're basically part of our family now, and only _the awesomest people_ get to bear the name of the _esteemed_ Beilschmidts."

"What are you…" Ludwig started.

"Well, Ludwig _Beilschmidt,_ you gonna have a bite or not?"

Ludwig smiled and walked over to his seat.


	9. Dream Chapter

**Hi everyone. Thanks to all of the returning followers I messaged about the story, I appreciate your understanding in me moving.**

 **Just a bit of info on this chapter, in the future, anything labeled "dream chapter" is what a character, in this case Ludwig, dreamed about the night after the previous chapter. They are usually, if not always going to be flashbacks to things that have already happened. That might change, but for the time being, unless I mention something about it being a hallucination, you can assume it happened at some point.**

 **Enjoy, and see you in a bit!**

* * *

"Ludwig, did you learn that song I was teaching you yet?" Roderich asked, dotting his paper with black ink as he composed a sheet of music.

"I… I think I need a little more practice." The twelve-year old replied, rubbing his arm anxiously.

"Nonsense." The Austrian man said, gesturing towards the piano. "You'll do fine. I've seen you practice."

Ludwig reluctantly walked over to the piano across from him and sat down, placing his fingers on the ivory white keys.

He took a deep breath and turned to the right page on the music stand.

"Go on." Roderich said, not looking up from his papers.

He began the piece, his fingers gliding over the keys and carefully turning the page every once in a while.

But as he continued, he found that his carefulness barely even needed...

His felt his mind racing with the music he was playing, but yet he was focused, never taking his eyes away from the piece. He imagined a dancer, her graceful movements wandering over the keys, jumping from one to the other, and he found that his hands were just moving on their own. He let a shaky smile inch its way on his face as he continued playing.

When he finished the piece, he froze, staring at the pages of the music, and felt his heart skip a beat.

 _I did it…_

He heard clapping from the other side of the room, and his head popped up to look at Roderich, who had put his pen down, and had a small smile on his face.


	10. Phase 2- Chapter 2: Part 1

**Releasing a 3 parter here, due to little or no changes, and also due to the fact that they're all pretty short.**

 **See you guys in a bit.**

* * *

Observation Journal

November 5, 1929

I've been living with Gilbert and Fritz for 4 days now. All I can say is I've been… slow… to adapt to my environment. Gilbert is strange and doesn't spend his time doing very productive things. He often goes out into the city to flirt with women, (unsuccessfully) and then he tries to cook something for himself to eat, (unsuccessfully, also, I cook for him when the servants aren't) and he hardly trains, and…

I feel very strange here. I am most often playing piano in my room or training around the house. I will start to feel more comfortable when I really start to get used to it. After all, Fritz was the one who told me that writing about it was the a good way to cope.

* * *

The AWESOME PRUSSIA'S Diary

November 5, 1929

Alright.

This kid.

He's weird.

Ludwig has been living at our house for four days now, and I'm starting to think that Germanys (Germanies? Germani? Fuck it) always wind up being weird people. Don't get me wrong, he's really nice, if not a little too polite, and he barely even talks to me, but when he does, I don't know… It's just so stiff. He's always maintaining perfect posture even when it's not necessary for him to have, he doesn't do anything for fun, he just walks around the house, trains, or plays piano.

And whenever he sees me laying around, relaxing, he looks as if he really wants to tell me to do something. And worst of all, _he doesn't end up saying anything!_

Not to mention that every time something touches his back, he becomes horrendously uncomfortable. I remember when I was showing him some parts of the neighborhood, I slapped his back in the best, big-brotherly way, and he made the most panicked face I have ever seen, and when I asked him what was wrong, he just told me he was tired.

 _Tired._

Who the actual fuck does he think he's talking to? The amazing Prussia smells lies, _smells em!_ If someone slaps you on the back, in most scenarios, you don't tense up like that, unless it hurt him, which I sincerely doubt considering his build. And you know what, now that I mention it, it looks like he avoids being touched in general. If someone offers to remove his coat, lead him somewhere or anything in that category, he stops them strangely quickly and does it himself… I don't know, maybe I'm thinking about this too much. Whatever. I hope he starts to loosen up, or at the very least, start talking to me a little more.


	11. Phase 2- Chapter 2: Part 2

Observation Journal

October 11, 1929

Gilbert has desperately been trying to act more like a brother to me. He made me breakfast this morning, which was nice of him, however, I waited until he left the room to throw it out, due simply to the strangely radioactive odor coming from the "eggs." He has also awarded me with a nickname; West. I cannot tell if he expects me to call him East, but have still been calling him Gilbert… However, I found myself becoming fond of the pastime of baking. The cake recipe that Petra left me is delicious, and Fritz has been kind enough to lend me his recipe cards as well. I've also noticed that despite Gilbert's strange and wild personality, his room is very organized. The objects in his room are almost entirely novelty and have no functional purpose, but they are all so neatly placed. I'm not quite sure what that means, but I suppose this is just an observation journal, and I observed that. His bird also seems to give me strange and curious looks very often, and when I'm not paying attention, I sometimes find him in my room, sleeping on my bed. It's very odd…

* * *

The AWESOME PRUSSIA'S Diary

October 11, 1929

Wow, if I thought he was weird before, then I didn't even start to get down to the _real stuff._ It started off this morning when I gave him breakfast in bed, because I'm just that cool of an older brother, and he didn't even taste it. (okay fine I know I suck at cooking, here's the _actually_ weird thing he did) Later I found him _baking._ Yes. Baking. And the weird part is that he's _really good at it._ He gave me a piece of the _Donauwelle_ he baked, and it was _amazing_. And Gilbird's been hanging out in his room, and he's been sleeping _on his head._ Gilbird's usually scared of anyone except me, and…

 _Who is this guy exactly?_ He's constantly got this stiff aura around him, but yet, he _bakes,_ and Gilbird _loves him._ More on this next time. It's not hard to notice him doing something weird, he sticks out like a sore thumb.


	12. Phase 2- Chapter 2: Part 3

The AWESOME PRUSSIA'S Diary

October 18, 1929

Fritz and I were talking about Viktor today at dinner, asking what happened to him, making crazy theories about what finally got the old fucker. It was really fun, Fritz suggested that he finally created a world all to himself, involving his uniform being a straight-jacket. I just said that I hoped he had finally caught Satan's attention and he gave the fucker a job application. (I know, I'm pretty clever) Naturally, Ludwig didn't say anything because he didn't know anything about him… But it was more than that…

He seemed like he knew…

And he didn't like what he knew.

He sat there the whole time staring at his food and excused himself early. "It's nothing," he said, with that fake-ass smile I see him use all the time. Then he went to his room, without another word.

What is he hiding from me? If he doesn't tell me, I swear to god,

 _I will send Gilbird to his room at night and have him peck his eyes out._

* * *

Observation Journal

October 18, 1929

Today was… uncomfortable…

Fritz and Gilbert were talking about Viktor at the table today… They were talking about all of the ways they hoped he had died, or how they hope he lost his mind. And all I could think of was the awful feeling I felt when I killed him.

It felt so cold… All of me reacting in such an emotionless way wasn't something I liked being converted into such a power. It felt disgusting... like a part of me snapping into a trance when it happened, I just…

Anyhow, I had to leave. Listening to it was just too unsettling. Hopefully tomorrow will be a little different.


	13. Phase 2- Chapter 3: Part 1

**Hello again everyone, this is a two parter chapter. You might start to see more chapters out of me, as I've finished quite a few lately.**

 **Thanks, see you guys later.**

* * *

Observation Journal

October 25, 1929

Today I went to be inaugurated. I met many countries.

* * *

"There's a meeting today, da?" The sweet, deceiving voice said to Latvia as he meekly grabbed the man's coat and handed it to him.

"Yes sir, he says that a country has been recovered."

The man put on his coat.

"How boring, I was hoping we'd be getting something new today."

"It is a shame, sir."

Latvia stands aside for the man to walk out of the house.

He looked back and smiled at the boy.

"You be good while I'm gone Raivis!" He said sweetly. "Or else I will be _very_ cross with you, da?"

He nodded fearfully.

"Of course, Russia, Sir!"

The man turned and walked away, happy with the boy's response.

* * *

When Ivan arrived at the private conference, he noticed that there were a lot less countries here than he had thought. When they said private, he didn't expect that they meant _this_ private.

" _How exciting to be alone with my closest friends."_ He thought.

Ivan sat down in his chair next to America, unbeknownst to him.

"How are you today, Alfred?" He asked sweetly.

Alfred turned suddenly, startled by Ivan's sweet voice, and almost fell out of his chair in the process.

He sighed in a mixture of relief and annoyance. "Just fine, Ivan. Thank you for asking."

The older man smiled. "That's good."

He decided to look around and see who else was part of this. He looked to the front of the room to see England discussing something with France. It seems that China is here too. And then…

Prussia…

Talking to someone else, whom he couldn't quite see behind the wall.

"Alright, everyone must be seated." England called out, and everyone took their seats, except for Prussia and the other person, whom Ivan was still frustratedly trying to get a peek at.

"So, you are probably wondering why only we are here today." England explained. "The answer is simple. Something controversial has happened, and I only trust all of you to hear it first, and handle it responsibly." He shot a look at Alfred and he just shrugged and smiled, leaning back in his chair.

"Anyhow, it has appeared that…" England stopped and looked at the ground. "We have unexpectedly found the missing Germany."

The room was filled with confused and somewhat frustrated murmuring.

They found Viktor?

He was rumored to be dead… Then again, countries cannot necessarily die...

"All of you, please!" England yelled, silencing the room. "Please, just listen to me-"

"You mean that brute is back to freely conquer us?! Explain yourself, Angleterre!" France objected.

A wave of agreement went through the room.

"I would explain if you bloody rats would listen to me long enough!" England shot. "Christ…" He muttered.

"Anyway, we have not seen Viktor. We know that he left us long ago." He paused. "However. A _nation,_ my friends, cannot die."

He gestured to the back wall and called over Gilbert and- whoever the hell was with him.

Gilbert gave an assuring look to the person, and Ivan saw him mouth something like 'Oh shut up, you'll be fine...'

He walked out holding the hand of a…

young man… with blonde hair… and blue eyes.

Ivan couldn't help the smile that had spread over his face.

" _Maybe I will be seeing something new today…"_

He and Gilbert stood behind England and the blonde one tugged at his yellow tie nervously.

"Everyone, I would like to introduce a returning, but new member to the council." He stepped aside and gestured for him to step forward.

He stepped in front of them all, blue eyes scanning the room, hands behind his back and standing up straight before speaking. "Hello, I am Ludwig Beilschmidt, I will be the new Germany." He bowed his head. "I look forward to meeting you all."

There was a small moment of uncomfortable silence as Germany raised his head, but then Ivan started a round of applause.

It quickly spread to the other countries, and one by one, they were all applauding.

Germany still stood, looking somewhat surprised that they clapped. Gilbert came over from behind him and swung his arm over Germany's shoulder.

And then Ivan saw it.

An ever-so small sense of discomfort at Gilbert's gesture.

" _How strange."_ Ivan thought, chuckling to himself.

" _This is already looking like so much fun."_

* * *

Gilbert dragged Ludwig off of the center as soon as the meeting was over and England dismissed. "See? That wasn't so bad, right?"

The blonde thought for a second before answering. "Yeah, I guess…"

Suddenly, Ludwig was turned around by a hand cloaked in a leather glove.

"Hey!" A young man in a brown jacket with dirty blonde hair and azure blue eyes stared at him intensely.

Ludwig stood frozen, staring back at him, with his lighter ones.

He suddenly relaxed, and held out his hand to the new nation. "How ya doin'?"

Ludwig reluctantly held out his hand to the strange boy and he shook it many times, getting him an odd look from Ludwig. "I'm doing alright." He said, still dazed. "What country are you?"

"I am America, aka Alfred F. Jones!" He said, almost spelling it out for him. "All you need to know about me is that one, I'm always the hero, two, I'm better than that old fart over there makes me out to be," He said, gesturing to the older looking blonde man, gaining him a nasty glare from him. "And three, I am literally the _land_ of _freedom._ " He opens the wrapper of the burger he was holding and begins to eat it. "At your service." He says finally, chewing.

"Nice to meet you-"

Ludwig was tapped on the shoulder and he turned around to meet with a man in blue clothing with bright-blonde hair and blue eyes like America's. " _Bonjour_ _jeune homme_ , I am France, but my name is Francis Bonnefoy." Ludwig held out his hand for the man to shake, but instead Ludwig is left shocked as he was kissed on both cheeks.

"Nice to meet you…" Ludwig said, dazed.

"Feel free to visit my home anytime. It is a welcoming place, and best of all, it is so full of _love_ " "Thank you, I-"

Someone else took his hand and spun him around.

"Hello, I'm China, but my name is Wang Yao-aru!" This one was wearing a dark green uniform with long brown hair and brown eyes. "I have the best cuisine in all of Asia! Do visit sometime!"

"Of course-"

He felt two hands on his shoulders and Ludwig froze, immediately turning his head. It was England.

"All right, all right, I know you're all _so eager_ to smother him with your culture, but he has some work to do with me." He said, maintaining his grip that Ludwig was itching to get out of.

They all groaned and gathered their things, leaving.

"England you're such a sick in the mud." America teased, looking back to grin at him.

"Shut up, you petulant brat." He sneered in response, and America only laughed.

England muttered annoyed insults as he watched them walk away.

Ludwig noticed that there was still one country he hadn't met yet, who had an oddly cheerful look in his lilac eyes.

"Hey, as soon as this guy is done talking to you, meet me outside, got it?"

Ludwig nodded.

"Great." He patted his shoulder. "Good luck!"

Gilbert walked out of the room and as soon as the door was closed, England finally took both of his hands off of his shoulders, and Ludwig took an inaudible breath of relief.

"Now then," He walked over to the tables and sat down, gesturing to the other seat. "Come, sit." He walked over to the table and England started unpacking a tea set.

"How do you like your tea?" He asked.

Ludwig couldn't remember being offered tea very much, but it just took a little recollection…

"Milk, 2 sugars, thanks."

"What do you think of those other twits you just met?" He said as he poured the tea.

"They're…" Ludwig thought carefully about how he answered. "They seem kind, they're just…"

"Foolish? Incompetent? Unfocused?" He guessed, smirking.

"Grabby…" He answered.

"Ah. I'm surprised that's your only problem with them."

"I suppose they're alright, just very excitable."

"And what about _Russia…_ " He asked, sounding a little concerned.

"Russia?" He asked. If he recalled, that one didn't introduce himself…

"You mean he didn't talk to you?"

"Should I be concerned?" Ludwig asked.

He hesitated a bit before he answered. "No… But anyway, I'm supposed to give you these paperworks to officially add you."

He took out a pile of papers nearly _three centimeters thick_ and placed them on the boy's side of the table.

He only stared.

"Believe me, you get used to it." England said, sipping his tea.

"I see." He said, still staring at it.

"Prussia will explain a lot of this, so you don't have to worry about some of this reading."

Ludwig nodded and finished his tea.

"I never really learned your name." Ludwig said.

He looked somewhat shocked at him asking.  
"Oh… My name is Arthur Kirkland."

"Pleasure to meet you, Arthur. Thank you for your assistance." He held out his hand, and Arthur shook it once.

"Same to you, Ludwig." He said.


	14. Phase 2- Chapter 3: Part 2

**Second part. I'm pretty proud of this one. I hope you guys enjoy it.**

* * *

Ludwig walked through the hallways looking though all of the confusing paperwork England had given him.

" _Foreign Affairs? Budget forms? Political Parties? Gott…"_ He thought to himself.

Ivan stood in the middle of the hallway, waiting for Natalya to pick him up. Ivan knew he was fully able of doing such trivial tasks by himself, and her abnormal clinginess was unnecessary, but he couldn't help but to enjoy the unusual level of loyalty being handed to him.

As Ludwig walked through the hall, he didn't realize that Ivan was standing in front of him, and he bumped into him, dropping all of his papers.

Ludwig looked at the slightly taller man. "Excuse me, I didn't see you there."

He kneeled down and started to pick up all of the papers again.

Ivan stared at him pick up the papers, observing and picking apart his behavior and mannerisms.

" _Gloves; Avoids contact…_

 _Socially reserved… Barely talked to the nations, and looked almost relieved when they had gone…_

 _How odd…"_

He smiled, trying to look as sweet as possible, and he leaned down next to Ludwig, placing a hand on his shoulder.

He became very happy with the sudden jolt from Ludwig's body.

"I can help you, if you'd like." Ivan said, becoming uncomfortably close to Ludwig's face as he grabbed his hand to check his pulse, Ivan wanting to smile even more when he felt his accelerated, nervous heart rate.

But as Ludwig felt Ivan's firm grip on his wrist, he pulled it away, feeling his composure failing.

"N-no, I'm quite alright, thank you."

"Are you sure?" He said, keeping his voice sincere. "You seem like you need help."

Ludwig couldn't completely keep back the part of him that had started to panic, much to Ivan's entertainment.

"I've got it." He says quickly, brushing Ivan's hand off, as he messily grabs as many papers as possible, hoping to end this uncomfortable interaction.

"Big brother..."

Ludwig turns his head to see a platinum-blonde girl with navy blue eyes, staring at him with an irritated expression.

She started walking towards them.

But then her walk turned into a jog.

And then suddenly she was charging straight at Ludwig, and when he tried to stand up, before he had any time to move out of her way, she grabbed him by his coat jacket and slammed him against the wall, holding him there, and the papers were on the floor again.

She took out a cold steel knife and held it against his throat.

"How dare you…" She hissed at Ludwig's face.

He stared dizzily into Natalya's deranged eyes as they tore into him.

Ivan smirked.

" _You have amazing timing, sister,"_ He thought as he stared like a child watching morning cartoons as Ludwig's chest heaved up and down, the sharp blade held on him harshly.

" _I was right. This is going to be fun."_ Ivan thought.

"How _dare_ you lay your dirty hands on my precious big brother Russia…"

"I-"

"Shut up!" She said, cutting him off. "Who are you?"

"Please, sister, this is a friend." Ivan said innocently.

Natalya's expression became suddenly calm at the sound of her brother's voice, much to Ludwig's confusion.

"But brother, this man did not even welcome your affection…"

Ludwig let out a quiet hiss through clenched teeth as the blade cut him a little, and a drop of blood falling down his neck.

"Da, sister, I'm okay." Ivan said, walking over to the other side of the hall. "Come on, let's go home."

She took one final look at Ludwig, glaring hatefully, and pulled the knife away, letting Ludwig fall to the floor, leaning his back against the wall for support.

"Coming, big brother!" She said cheerfully as she ran over to her brother, clinging to his arm.

Ivan took a look back at the now shaky and uncharacteristically nervous Ludwig.

"I'll see you again next meeting, da?"  
Ludwig didn't respond, but he scowled, angry at himself and kept his head down.

Ivan smirked to himself.

" _Your walls are glass, Ludwig. Reflective, perplexing, perfect."_ Ivan thought as he walked away with Natalya.

" _Easily broken."_

" _Then they are sharp… and so mesmerizing to watch as they fall."_

Ludwig sat there, his back to the wall as he composed himself, his heart pounding in his ears and his hand shielding his face.


	15. Dream Chapter 2

**Warning: Sexual assault is included in this chapter. If this topic discomforts you, _do not_ continue this chapter. Not even the AN. **

* * *

**What's included is 2nd degree sexual assault. (The kind that you get arrested for, but not the kind in which penetration occurs) If you are genuinely bothered by this topic, you can skip this chapter. I made this chapter have no important information, so you wouldn't be missing any plot.**

 **Thanks, see you all in a bit.**

* * *

"Hey, how was it-"

"It was fine. Let's go home."

"Well, grumpypants, was England that boring?"

"No, he was fine. Just forget it."

"Ludwig, what's that on your neck?"

"Nothing, my pen scratched it."

"Why was your pen anywhere near your-"

"Gilbert, can we please go home already?"

"...Fine."

* * *

Ludwig sat on the stool, tinkering with an old clock, trying to find what had caused it to stop working. He had his tools, bitterly payed for by Madam, who was tired of things breaking in the house. It at least gave himself something to do, because he couldn't really go out for errands that long anymore.

Not since she had discovered he was going to see Roderich…

The 17 year old peeked at the gears inside the machinery and took out the screwdriver from his toolbag.

Maybe something was loose-

He heard the door sloppily being opened, and he shook his head to himself.

Madam had returned.

Sounding terribly, terribly drunk.

She was laughing as he heard her stumble into the house.

"Welcome back, madam." He mumbled, continuing his work.

He heard her footsteps toward the room he was in, and didn't bother turning around.

"Hi…" She said, her voice trailing off.

"Hi." Ludwig said, not taking his eyes off his work.

"What are you up to?" She asked in an odd voice.

"Fixing one of the clocks."

"I see."

As Ludwig held the screwdriver in place to the center of a gear inside the clock, he stopped cold as he felt Madam's hands on his shoulders.

"Madam… are you alright?" He asked dully, not turning his head.

She didn't answer.

"Madam-"

Her arms snaked around his torso, and he froze again, his eyes blinking nervously as he dropped his screwdriver.

Ludwig felt dizzy and and his heart was pounding in his ears, as he looked down to see Madam unbuttoning his shirt.

"Come sit with me, Ludwig…" She murmured into his ear, her breath smelling like booze, and she turned his head towards her, Ludwig's eyes widening as she leaned into him, kissing his lips.

He quickly got up out of his stool, backing away from her and giving her a defensive look.

She grabbed his hand.

"Come back here…" She said playfully, grabbing his other hand and pressing him against the wall.

Ludwig stared at her dazed, lustful eyes fearfully, and she chuckled.

"Come on, I don't bite…"

She pressed her lips against his, and Ludwig struggled to get away from her, but her weight against his body landed him on the ground, with her hands pinning him down.

She chuckled.

"You're pretty adorable though…"

She kissed him again, pinning down his arms, and Ludwig rapidly looked around the room, trying to think of ideas, but her loud breathing was nerve wracking and distracting him, his mind already scrambled.

She moaned, Ludwig jolting in her hold, and brought her hand up to hold his chin as she kissed him again.

Immediately with the freedom of his left arm, Ludwig grabbed her shoulder and yanked his other arm free and pushed the drunken woman off of him, leaving her on the floor as he stumbled away, his face pale and his heart accelerated and panicked.

"Wait up!" She laughed, staying on the floor.

Ludwig barely made it to his room without falling over and his hands shook violently as he closed the door and locked it shut.

Just then he realized that he was hyperventilating, and his vision was blurred.

And with his back against the door, he slid to the ground, covering his face with his hands.

But after a moment of trying to calm himself down, his body seized up in a fit of discomfort, realizing his clothes smelled like alcohol.

He shakily took his half-unbuttoned shirt off and put on a different one, and did the same with his pants. He stormed off to the sink in his room and washed out his mouth, feeling like he could _still taste her revolting breath-_

He stopped himself, staring at his frighteningly angry reflection in the mirror, realizing how deranged he was allowing his mind to get.

He closed his eyes and evened out his breathing.

"Calm down…" He said to himself out loud.

"Just calm down…"

He walked to an empty corner of his room and sat down, hugging his knees to his chest, and reading out his mantra to himself.

"Getting mad at madam isn't going to solve anything…" He continued.

But deep down he felt like that didn't help him too much today.

Because he wasn't mad at madam.

He felt uncomfortable and angry at himself.


	16. Phase 2- Chapter 4: Part 1

**Sorry for the break. Just getting settled into school again.**

 **Another 3 parter. Enjoy!**

* * *

The AWESOME PRUSSIA'S Diary

October 26, 1929

I've woken up with Ludwig acting as annoyingly reserved as he was when he got back from the world meeting. All "not talking unless spoken to," and talking as little as possible too. He refuses to tell me what that scratch is, and I don't like it. He's acting just like he was when he first got here, and just when he had started to act normal towards me too. I'll write in this again later when I finally knock some sense into that tall bastard.

* * *

Gilbert walked in the kitchen trying to find something he wanted to eat, when he saw Ludwig, sitting at the table wearing a robe over a pair of shorts, not doing much in particular, sipping a cup of coffee as he seemed to be staring at nothing really.

Gilbert walked over to him, and the silver-haired man could feel his hands ball into fists as the younger one didn't bother to look back.

" _You silent bitch."_

" _Guten Morgen, West._ " Gilbert said.

" _Guten Tag._ " He still didn't make eye contact as he sipped his " _goddamned coffee."_

Gilbert decided to try a bit more. He pulled out two eggs from the fridge and a skillet and put them on the stove.

"Sleep well?"

He heard Ludwig hum in response.

" _Liar._

 _From the start, you've always been a terrible liar._

 _You have dark rings under your eyes."_

Gilbert cracked the two eggs on the stove.

"Really?"

"Yes." He responded.

"That's good." Gilbert said, walking away from the eggs, knowing he would cook them wrong anyways. "Actually, I had a dream last night." He continued.

"Really." Ludwig said dully.

"Yes. I think I remember what it was about too."

He stood right behind his chair and held Ludwig's shoulders, and he flinched.

"I think it was about this guy who was always lying to me." Gilbert chuckled. "I know huh? Lying to _me. The amazing and defiant Prussia was lied to._ "

Ludwig took a long sip of his coffee.

"It's pretty frustrating, you know?"

Silence.

Ludwig finished his coffee and was about to get up, but Gilbert immediately forced him back down.

"I think you and the guy have a lot in common _bruder_. Wouldn't you say so?"

"Please, Gilbert, I don't have time for this-"

"What? So you can continue your boring schedule of avoiding me?"

"No, I have to train."

"For what?!"

"Look, just- I have to go."

He got out of Gilbert's shoulder grab and started to walk away.

 _Not this time, you lying assface._

Gilbert reached forward and grabbed his robe.

"STOP!"

Gilbert realized he had pulled the robe off, and he looked again to Ludwig's back.

 _Ludwig's scratched, violently scarred back._

The boy stood frozen in an almost trance-like state.

Gilbert stared at the gashes, continuing straight down in a column.

They looked almost… intentional in nature.

Suddenly Ludwig tried to bolt from the kitchen, but Gilbert grabbed his arm.

"Ludwig, wait-"

"Let go!" He yelled helplessly, trying to pull away. " _Let go!_ "

"Stop! Just calm down!"

" _You can't make me do this Viktor, LET GO!_ "

" _Viktor?"_ Gilbert thought, his eyes narrowed.

"Bruder! What on earth are you talking about?"

Ludwig froze again.

He turned around and finally looked at the shorter man with the most horrified face, almost as if he was surprised that Gilbert was the one standing behind him.

"Ludwig, what the _hell_ was that?"

Ludwig stared at him with a hollow look on his face.

"I think I need something else to drink…" He said, covering his pale face with his hands.

"Alright…" He said, still shocked at his sudden outburst. He walked backwards toward the fridge.

" _I think I know what he needs right about now."_ He thought, grabbing two beer bottles from the refrigerator.

"Hey, how old are you?"

He sits down. "About 18, why?"

"Good, I can't be arrested for giving you this. But let's face it, no one would dare arrest me for shit." He snorted.

He placed the beer bottle in front of him on the table and he gave Gilbert an odd look.

" _Oh come on."_

"Assuming you haven't tried pretty much anything else I've showed you, it doesn't really surprise me that you don't know what this is either."

"I'm assuming this is an alcoholic beverage of some sort?"

"Bingo. You're not as dumb as you look little brother."

Ludwig gave him a somewhat irritated look.

"Oh, hush…" He took the bottle opener and handed it to him, and the young blonde popped the bottle cap off of it.

"It's beer. Makes the talking easier. Because if you need anything right now, it's talking." He suddenly had a smug look on his face. "It's also delicious because it's German."

"I see." Ludwig says, taking a sip from it.

"So. You gonna tell me what you know about Viktor?"

He looks at the beer. "By now, it would be pointless to hide the fact that I've obviously come in contact with him."

Gilbert popped his beer bottle open. "Clearly." He said. "Go on."


	17. Phase 2- Chapter 4: Part 2

"And then, he started _*hic*_ drowning her…" Ludwig said, holding his _seventh_ beer bottle.

He had been talking to Gilbert for almost an hour now, and he really wished the kid would stop drinking. His face was completely flushed, his eyes blurry, and Gilbert swore he'd never met anyone who would speak so _quietly_ when they're drunk, noting how loud everyone always got, including himself.

"Wait how was he drowning her? Weren't you guys on land?"

"I don't know… _*hic*_ He was just _looking_ at her…" He shielded his face with the hand that wasn't holding the beer bottle.

 _Just looking at her?_

"And he expected you to be able to do this?" Gilbert asked.

He took his hand away from his face.

"Yeah… And…"

He looked down.

"What? And what?"

Ludwig muttered something so quietly that Gilbert narrowed his eyes in annoyance and had to lean forward.

"You… what was that?"

"And I _fucking did it!_ " He slurred angrily, in possibly the first time Gilbert had ever heard him say a curse word.

Gilbert's eyes became even more confused.

"You… _How? Who?!_ "

Ludwig's hand was in his hair, seeming stressed about the situation himself. "I was just really mad at him, and I _*hic*_ I just stared at him and… _*hic*_ He started choking…"

He stared down at the bottle in his hands, His chest occasionally bounced up from his hiccuping.

"And they were all _*hic*_ scared of me after…"

"What do you mean? What happened to Viktor?"

"I miss Petra…"

"Come on, Ludwig, what happened to Viktor?"

"I already told you, _*hic*_ I killed him, remember?"

 _Nothing he's saying is making any sense..._

"You killed him by looking at him? How?"

"I don't know, I don't know!" He said, both of his hands on the sides of his head.

Gilbert sighed, knowing he wasn't going to get much more out of him tonight.

" _As little sense as it makes, I think he's telling the truth. Though I've no idea why this upsets him so much… The guy beat his ass 24/7 and left him some nasty scars in the process."_

Gilbert's thoughts could have gone on for much longer, but he noticed that Ludwig's head was on the table, eyes closed.

"Oh geez…" He thought out loud.

He reached over and shook the boy's sleepy shoulders. "Hey, Ludwig. Ludwig?"

He mumbled something Gilbert couldn't pick up and continued to sleep.

Gilbert groaned. He couldn't sleep here on the table.

" _Fritz will have my ass if I leave him here…"_ He thought.

Gilbert tried lifting his shoulders, attempting to pick him from underneath, straining every part of him to do so.

"Gah- Come on…" He said to himself.

He walked a couple more steps, but the weight of the muscular teenager became too much for him and he fell down, Ludwig's body crushing him.

" _GAH NO-"_ Gilbert voice hissed in frustration.


	18. Phase 2- Chapter 4: Part 3

Ludwig woke up with a splitting headache as he quickly strained to see his surroundings, part of his mind going into panic mode.

But he was immediately put at ease when he saw that he was laying on the couch with a blanket draped over him.

He groaned and sat up, holding his head.

" _What happened to me…"_ He thought, rubbing his temples. " _I feel like I saw Viktor…"_

Then he remembered flashes of Gilbert's eyes.

" _No… I hallucinated Viktor again for Gilbert, and then he gave me beer…_

 _I think I talked a lot…"_

He glanced at the end table to see a glass of water with a small pill next to it and a note.

 _Take this- You're gonna need it._

- _Your awesome bruder Prussia_

He swallowed the aspirin and washed it down with the glass of water.

" _Now that I think about it, I think this used to happen to madam. She'd call it being… Damn, what's the word…"_

Ludwig tried standing and immediately got dizzy, his head weighing him down once more.

" _Ahh, yes._

 _I'm hungover."_

He sighed as he made sure to stand up a little slower than the last time. Once he'd gained his balance, he walked to the bathroom to wash his face, and as the refreshing cool water woke him up, He remembered more of what happened.

" _I told him_ _ **everything**_ _didn't I?"_

He turned the tap water off and balanced his head on his hands.

" _Well, at least I know not to drink when I should probably keep my mouth shut…"_

He left the bathroom and out came Gilbert from the west hall.

"Hey! You're finally awake!" He said excitedly.

But all Ludwig could focus on was how sharp and painful his voice was to his aching head.

"Yes, yes, but _please_ don't be so loud…"

"Oh right…" Prussia said leading into muffled laughing. "You're totally hungover, aren't you?"

"Yes. Now please, let's talk somewhere I can lay down."

"You're hungover…" He laughed still.

"Shut up!" Ludwig hissed. "Let's go to my room."

"Right, right…" Gilbert said, finally calming himself.

* * *

When they got to Ludwig's room, the blonde realized he was still wearing only a robe over his back. He took out a T-shirt, but froze before taking his robe off.

" _Shit, I can't-"_

"I've already seen it West, why are you still hiding your back?"

" _Oh… That's right."_

Ludwig sighed and dropped it to the floor, slipping on the T-shirt.

"Y'know, there's still one thing I don't understand." Gilbert said. Ludwig lay on his bed and massaged his head once more. "What is it?"

"How did you kill Viktor? Like, I know you said you "looked" at him, but what does that mean?"

"If I knew, I'd tell you." He thought for a moment. "All I know is that I felt… more than just angry. I felt confused, angry- no furious, and…"

Ludwig stopped himself, not wanting to continue revealing himself like this.

"And what? What else did you feel?"

Ludwig chuckled, amazed at himself for ever feeling this towards someone. "Terrified." He said bluntly.

"I was about to lose my friend to my trainer who was trying to teach me a lesson… And for what? To learn a dangerous and unnecessary way to kill someone?"

Gilbert remained silent.

"Piyo~ Piyo~"

He sat up, startled at the sound to see Gilbird scuttling around on his bed. He had been sleeping under the blankets.

Ludwig relaxed again, laying down.

"Hello, Gilbird." Ludwig said quietly as the bird waddled over his chest and sat down right over his heart.

Ludwig still didn't quite know why his bird was so fond of him, but he still enjoyed his company.

"Gilbird? Where have you been all day? I was looking for this little weirdo while you were out cold, and I couldn't find him anywhere. He was here?"

"I guess so." Ludwig muttered, rubbing the bird's soft head.

"Weird." Gilbert said.

"It's only right you should know some things about Viktor then, too." He said.

Ludwig turned and looked at him.

"It was nearly 20 years ago."


	19. Flashback Chapter 1

**A two parter today.**

 **I'm releasing a one-shot! Go to my profile and look for "In A Flash." It has little Ludwig and protective Gilbert. It's kinda historical, but not really too much. Go check it out, and let me know what you guys think!**

* * *

It had been long and tortuous. But finally.

We finally got ahold of him.

"It's over, Germany. You've lost." Arthur said to him, pointing his pistol at the dangerous nation. The cold, stiff air of the battlefield blew past him.

"Yeah… I know." Viktor said, crouched down, his gun suddenly pointed at his temple.

"I know…" he muttered psychotically.

" _NO!"_ Arthur yelled sharply.

Arthur instinctively kicked the gun out of his hands and kicked him to the floor in one swift movement.

"You can't escape from this, Germany! Look at the lives you've crippled! You will come with me and be properly assigned you twa-"

The Englishman froze as Viktor held out a grenade above his head.

 _Pin pulled out already._

"Not just yet, _Mein Liebe…_ "

" _KRAU-"_

Arthur saw white as his body was flung into the air and into the dirt.

His ears were ringing as his lungs burned, pain stinging every part of his body.

He closed his eyes.

"ENGLAND!" America ran to his fallen comrade.

He cringed at the sight. England was covered in blood and shrapnel jutted out of his body. America swore to himself that Viktor would pay.

He picked up England's unconscious body and ran back to his airplane to fly him to a hospital.

"Just hang in there, England! I'll get you out of this!"

He started the plane and took off.

When he arrived, he carried his brother to the ER, his unusual strength feeling even stronger in his anxious state.

"Ma'am, you've got to help him!" America cried.

"Yes of course, sir-" She looked up from her desk. "Oh my _lord!_ "

She spoke into an intercom. "We need a patient taken in _immediately!_ "

"Please wait a moment sir."

Not long after, several doctors emerged rolling a bed out to place England on. They gently took him from America's shaken arms.

"Please, help him!" He called out as they entered a room. Alfred knew that this could never actually kill him, but seeing Arthur in that much pain made him want to do anything to stop it.

England lay awake on his bed, and Alfred gently opened the door and peeked his head in, eventually followed by his whole body. He couldn't help but to feel a twinge of despair when he saw his friend covered in bandages.

"Hey, dude… How're you holdin' up?" He asked carefully.

"I feel like shit." He responded, keeping his gaze completely frozen.

America stayed silent, not knowing how to respond.

"I let that son of a bitch fly right under my nose. He managed to take me out in one dirty move."

More silence.

"Has anyone found him?" England finally asked.

"No, it doesn't look like anyone's seen him."

Arthur cursed under his breath.

"Surely he couldn't have lived…" America said somewhat nervously.

"I don't know Alfred… That guy was a maniac capable of some pretty impossible things."

America looked out the window solemnly. "Tell me about it."

"What do you mean you haven't found him?!" England hissed into the phone.

It had been another week after the incident, and at the world meeting, they didn't know what to do. Who would they interrogate? Who would they imprison?

"So we still know nothing?" England growled.

He sighed and slammed the phone down.

He looked at all of the defeated faces covered in bandages and calmed himself down.

"Okay." He said. "Allied meeting: The war is over. Let's get over with this, shall we?"


	20. Phase 2- Chapter 4: Part 4

"And that's basically it." Gilbert finished.

Ludwig still lay on the bed, staring upward into the ceiling. Gilbird had left to stand on Gilbert's head.

"Is there anything else on him?" He asked. "What was he like?"

Gilbert thought for a moment. "Well, he was a real piece of work, lemme tell you…"

"He was always noting the nation's behaviours, how they reacted to things, like, if a country was bombed, or if a country was in famine, he'd pay an awful lot of attention to them. I actually found an entire notebook filled to the brim with sketches and notes of England and his declining state during "The Great Famine" in Ireland."

"Didn't England notice?" Ludwig asked, wondering why he decided to ask that.

"No, I mean we didn't have council meetings at the time, we would just meet occasionally meet."

Ludwig shivered, thinking about the wretched man again.

"How about Russia? Do you know much about him?"

Gilbert suddenly looked somewhat disgusted. "You mean Ivan?" He grumbled. "Yeah, he's a real nutcase, that one. He never stops at the chance to claim or bother other countries."

" _Makes sense…"_ Ludwig thought.

"He's got this messed up "country collection" that's called the Soviet Union. It's basically the biggest country right now. He's a rising power using Communism as its form of government."

"And his sister?"

"Which one?"

"He has more?"

"Yeah. Two to be exact. One of them isn't half bad, in fact she's actually quite nice to everyone. Her name is Ukraine, aka Sofia Braginski. She's always forced to be glued to her brother as she's part of his Soviet Union."

"And the other?"

"I'm really hoping this isn't the one you met; her name's Belarus, aka Natalya Braginski. She's creepily obsessed with her brother, and will do anything to protect him or fight for his attention. She's easily jealous of her sister, who receives more attention from him then she does."

"Not surprising." I said dimly.

There was a small minute of silence, but then Gilbert stood.

"That's right!" He said, digging into his pockets. He pulled out an iron cross, and held it out to the exhausted boy.

He sat up and inspected it in his hand.

"It's an iron cross?" He asked, looking at it from each angle.

Gilbert gasped. "WRONG!" He looked at Gilbird, completely dumbfounded by the blonde's response. "This bitch doesn't know what this is, Gilbird."

"Well, excuse me for not knowing what this random object is that you just shoved in my face." Ludwig retorted.

" _This,_ my dear brother, is _THE_ Iron Cross. And your awesome older brother earned it. Do you know who gets these? No one. Like. _Ever._ "

He held out his hand again. "And because I am so generous, kind and cool, I, the Amazing Prussia, have decided to let you keep it as a good luck charm."

He grabbed the blonde's hand and put the Iron Cross into his palm, then closed it.

It was such a weird thing to give him, Ludwig thought, but he noticed it was awfully kind of him to.

"Thank you…" He said, moving it around in his hand. He really kind of liked it, He wasn't sure why.

But even when he had only been awake for a short amount of time, but I Ludwig's head felt awful and he already wanted to sleep again.

"Hey, can I sleep again?" Ludwig asked, rubbing his temples. "I still don't feel that great."

"Sure, I mean I'm not your boss." He said, chuckling to himself. He walked towards the door, and just before he left, turned around one last time. "Goodnight!"

" _Gute Nacht…"_ The tired boy said, already drifting off to sleep.


	21. Phase 2- Chapter 5: Part 1

**Sorry for the delay guys, school is shit. To repay you all, I have quite a few parts done that needed few edits, so here you go.**

 **Thanks, see you in a bit.**

* * *

The AMAZING PRUSSIA'S Diary

November 3, 1929.

Ludwig's been here for almost a couple months now, and he's become really comfortable with everyone, and if I do say so myself, it's alllll thanks to me. I should be pausing for applause. He honestly seems to have a personality now, it's pretty awesome. He doesn't flinch nearly as much, and he, you know, _feels_ things like a normal person. As in… _**normally**_. Don't get me wrong, he stays pretty calm most of the time, but he's more expressive now. He gets annoyed, he gets pissed sometimes, (I piss him off a lot heh…) and sometimes I even catch him smiling.

Overall…

I like to think that he's happy. He wakes up everyday at 6 AM and makes everyone breakfast. He bakes. He trains. He reads. Sometimes I even see him having conversations with Old Fritz.

I'm glad. When he first got here I didn't understand him all that well. But the fact still stood that he's my brother, and I wouldn't let myself leave him alone. It was just such a downer to see him being so glum.

And let's be completely honest here, he's the best replacement I could get, especially since Viktor was technically my "brother" too.

There's one thing that still bothers me though.

 _Why Is my status improving?_

Technically, my status was demoted _years_ ago. Don't get me wrong, I'm still country material, but because Germany is kind of the main thing now, my political status has plummeted. My condition was dropping with World War I, and to add to it, the inflation's peak hit hard in 1923. It really seemed like I'd be gone in about a decade.

But yet Fritz says my condition has been _improving._ I don't know what happened, but overall, I feel better, stronger too. For a long time it looked like I would be mortal soon…

But I guess not. Anyway, a good day today. Ludwig reluctantly left the house to deliver something earlier. I wonder what that's about.


	22. Phase 2- Chapter 5: Part 2

Observation Journal

November 3, 1929

I… I went out today. It was… It was…

It was awful.

It's unbelievable what only a few years of war could do to a place. All of the citizens were destitute. I felt sick to my stomach as I saw corpses covered with blankets lining the streets. Poor children limped near the other citizens, begging them for marks...

Anyway, all of this is besides the point. I made a cake today and went out with it because the other day, Gilbert said a bakery had opened across the street with the most delicious pastries. He said it reminded him of the ones I baked. When I asked the name, he said _**Petra's Bakery**. _

* * *

Petra was working in the store, taking another tray out of the oven, busy as always. Her sales were better than most with businesses at the time, but it was still somewhat difficult to keep up, with the inflation still being a problem, and not to mention the task of 'getting bread on the table'.

Just then, Ludwig walked in and saw her working. He felt so overwhelmed with relief to see her doing okay.

She was still too busy to turn around and see who had walked into her store. " _Guten Tag, und_ Welcome to Petra's Bakery, do you have something in mind that you'd like?"

 _I can't believe it… it's really her…_ Ludwig thought with a wistful smile inching across his face.

He placed the package down on the counter.

"No, I've brought a delivery for you." He said.

She sighed, and kept working with her back turned. "Did those kids put you up to this? Oh dear, they're so poor themselves, they shouldn't keep doing things like… this…"

She had turned around.

 _No way… Those eyes… that blonde hair..._

She carefully walked out from behind the counter and approached Ludwig. Her face looked shocked, Ludwig noticed, but so full of glee.

 _"Ludwig?"_ She muttered.

He gave a small nod and flashed a warm smile before Petra practically fell into Ludwig, bursting with gales of laughter, wrapping her arms around his torso.

He was so thrown off balance, he had to hold on to her and spin them both around for a second.

"I was afraid I wouldn't see you in the city…" She started, still laughing.

"I was too." He said, hugging her, her small form easily fitting in his muscular arms.

"Thank you… I thought I would be alone in the city." She muttered with her head still buried in his chest.


	23. Phase 2- Chapter 5: Part 3

"Has life here been… okay for you?" Ludwig asked.

"Of course!" She assured, her eyes lighting up a bit. "I've already made lots of new friends and my business is doing wonderfully."

"That's good." He said, glancing around the bakery.

"Oh, are you looking for something?" She asked holding a cookie tray.

"Yes, actually." He said, remembering that Gilbert had asked him for something. "My brother is rather fond of your _Franzbrötchen_. Can you pack one?"

"Sure, but I didn't know you had a brother. What's he like?" She asked, reaching up to her shelves and grabbing a cinnamon pastry.

"He technically isn't my brother, but… well…"

"Do you think of him that way?" She asked, packaging the treat.

He felt a toothless smile inch its way onto his face. "I suppose I do. But I wanted to ask; where is Tenenbaum? Is she still in contact with you?"

"Yes, of course! She got a job as an official military nurse."

"Really? That's wonderful." He replied, secretly worrying about her having such a dangerous job.

She handed the bag to Ludwig and he started to take out his wallet.

"Wait." Petra said. "There's no need for that."

Ludwig shot her a somewhat irritated look as he continued to take money out of his wallet. It was taking an exceptionally long time, because it costed over 10,000 marks.

"Please, Ludwig, today was a great business day." She assured. "I don't need this."

He placed all of the marks on the counter and carefully lifted the bag with the pastry off of the table.

"It was great to see you Petra. I'll probably visit again." He smiles and walks to the door. "Enjoy the cake, I used the recipe you gave me."

"Thank you, I will."

Later that day, When Petra opened the box with the cake in it, she found a check for 300 billion marks hidden in the casing, with a note attached.

" _Take care,"_

 _-Ludwig_


	24. Phase 2- Chapter 6: Part 1

**(ha ha i love these two so much)**

* * *

Arthur woke up in bed at 10:00. He wasn't used to being this late…

" _What happened yesterday?"_ He thought to himself as he sat up, dazed and sore.

He could faintly smell someone cooking on the stove. He smiled. America was staying at his place because there was a meeting yesterday, and the trip back to his place would be tiring.

The meeting...

Right… Germany was back. Somewhat.

Arthur got out of bed and went to the bathroom to wash up.

Meanwhile, Alfred heard doors opening and closing around the house.

" _Arthur's awake… prepare the table and make yourself look super cool and early!"_ Alfred thought, swiftly grabbing plates and forks and placing them on the table as he hurriedly distributed the pancakes, eggs, and bacon to all of the plates, and finished it off by wiping the counter.

Arthur walked out of the bathroom, rubbing his eyes.

"About time, sleepyhead." Alfred remarked with a smug look on his face, sitting in his chair.

Arthur shot him an annoyed look as he took his seat, and looked at the food on the table. He loved America's breakfasts.

" _This looks so delicious…"_ Arthur thought.

"Ugh, it's your traditional breakfast rubbish." He sneered, as he started cutting his pancakes with his fork.

"Hey, you're the one who let me cook."

"I never said you could cook!" He growled.

Alfred laughed his usual obnoxious laugh, and Arthur shot him a murderous glare.

"God you're such a pest…" He muttered.

Alfred finished laughing. "Oh, but what do you think of Germany, he seems okay, right? He's _definitely_ a better replacement for creepy old Viktor, huh?"

"I don't know, Alfred. I can't see myself trusting him right away. He's still Germany, and we know what horrors they're capable of."

Alfred gave a hopeful look. "From what I saw, he seemed alright."

"Well maybe you should have spent more time trying to get to know him than just trying to kiss up to him like the others..." He said, annoyed.

Alfred's face changed. "I wasn't trying to kiss up to him, I was excited. Everyone else probably was too, considering the fact the Viktor was a massive douche."

Arthur frowned and looked away from him.

"I can't say that the other countries' reactions will be the same when they meet him, they have some pretty nasty memories with him that they might not be willing to overlook. But I'm just glad that our group could."

Arthur sat in shock at the words that had just come out of his mouth. Sometimes he forgot how smart Alfred could be apart from his usual goofiness.

The air was heavy, and Arthur suddenly found it difficult to begin conversation again.

"Anyway," Alfred started. "It's good that we have someone back in that position again. I was getting kinda worried that we'd have a case of missing country again."

"Heh… yeah…"

Arthur didn't like to think about it. He could remember the day they lost him. The little boy that had barely started. Holy Roman Empire. Gilbert was frantic when he was announced missing. He had gone off to fight a battle that it would seem he underestimated, because Gilbert said he couldn't find him anywhere in the battlefield. After he told the others, they conducted a search everywhere, but we couldn't find him. Gilbert was distraught.

"Hey, when is my flight leaving?" Alfred asked, mouth full of bacon.

Arthur's head snapped back to face him.

"YOU DON'T KNOW?!"

"I thought you did." Alfred mumbled bluntly.

Arthur growled in frustration and got up from the table looking for Alfred's boarding pass.

Alfred chuckled to himself as Arthur dug through his drawers and bags.

 _"My flight is at 10 PM… Arthur you're such a geezer…"_


	25. Phase 2- Chapter 6: Part 2

**Alright everyone, Consequence is back. I have been updating these chapters behind the scenes and I'm finally on another school vacation. So I'm going to be posting these in little groups hopefully all throughout this week. Thank you everyone for being so patient, and for anyone who just started following this story, enjoy.**

 **See you guys in hopefully not too long.**

* * *

Russia sat at his home, looking at the diplomatic papers handed to him by his boss.

Lots of them regarding Russia's status with Germany.

 _New Representative…_

 _Foreign Policy…_

 _Possible Alliance…_

"Oh, all of this paperwork is so tasking…" He sighed to himself. "Oh, Latvia! Come here please."

Raivis froze at the sound of his name. He walked into Ivan's study and cautiously toward his desk.

"Y-yes sir…" His voice trembled.

"Do you see all of this work I've been handed today? It's so cruel that I have to do all of this for my boss. Wouldn't you say so?"

Raivis took careful note before speaking. "I would, Russia, sir, but I'm sure it's nothing you can't handle!" He said, trying to be cheerful.

"That is a _very. good. point,_ little Latvia." He said, harshly petting his head with every word.

" _Thankyousir."_ He said, turning to leave.

Russia chuckled and continued to look at the papers.

" _I wonder…"_ He thought. " _Would this Germany be a valuable ally to Russia? He seems like he will learn from Viktor's mistakes… but there is still the matter of his...nervous tendencies..._

 _We wait for a while. See where he takes the country. Then I decide whether he is worth my time or not._


	26. Phase 2- Chapter 7

The AWESOME PRUSSIA'S Diary

December 12, 1929

I've found that the kid is into a lot more things than just playing piano and training or whatever. It looks like he's completely read up on history, and science, and arithmetic... Every hour, I see him holding a different book in his hand. He takes _notes_ on the damn things. I thought he said he was home-schooled, how is all this stuff even new to him? Is it new to him? Or is he just obsessive? I think he just likes reading. Whatever.

* * *

"Actually, I forgot to show you this when you got here." Gilbert said, opening the door.

The younger of the two cautiously peered into the dark and walked inside. Gilbert turned on the light of the dusty garage to reveal his car sitting in the middle.

"Ta-Daaa~!" Gil said, his arms open wide.

"This is your car?" He asked.

"Yeah, its pretty awesome, huh?" Gil said, tapping the hood. "Except... it's broken." He said, his voice dropping slightly. "I've tried finding a mechanic in town to fix it, but they all say they can't." He shrugged. "I would scrap it, but I can't bring myself to, so it just sits here. Lookin' nice."

Ludwig squinted his eyes, taking a couple of paces around it, and Gilbert just stared as the boy analyzed the vehicle.

"Hey, Ludwig, what are you…"

"What was wrong with the car when it stopped working? Do you have any cause as to why it won't work?"

"Uhh, no. I just came in to start driving one day and it wouldn't start."

He nodded. "That it?" He asked.

"Yeah." I sighed. "Let's go upstairs. You know, I'm really feelin' like some of that _Franzbrötchen_ you started making." Gil leaned into the blonde's shoulder and flashed him a cheeky grin, batting his eyelashes.

Ludwig shot him an annoyed, disgusted glare and pushed him off.

"Fine… But don't ever do that again. _Ever._ "

Gilbert laughed sarcastically and reached up to his shoulder. "There's my little brother, looking out for me when I'm in need."

Ludwig groaned and they walked up the stairs together.

* * *

In his room, Ludwig carefully ran his index finger across the spines of the books in his bookcase, stopping at the book titled, "Automobiles and Their Inner Mechanisms."

He slipped his fingers around the guide and pulled it from the row of books, and he glanced back at his notes.

 _I can definitely fix this._


	27. Christmas Special

Arthur woke up in the morning to see snowflakes falling peacefully outside his window. Then he heard the calm singing coming from outside, and the happy bustle of children.

He smiled.

 _"It's Christmas In England..."_ He thought.

He swung his legs over the bed and stood up, stretching his back and reaching for his dark green robe. He looked over at the clock.

7:00 AM.

 _"Good… I'd hate to wake up late on a day like this."_

He walked out of his room to the kitchen, craving to make himself a mug of hot coffee. As he added the ground beans to his moka pot, he glanced at the decorated Christmas tree in his living room that he had prepared a couple days ago when suddenly he noticed…

 _SOMEONE'S SLEEPING UNDER IT-_

"CHRIST-"

He dropped his metal spoon with a loud _clang_ and backed into his countertop, heart beating a mile an hour as he frantically looked around for a knife.

 _Who… is that…_

He approached the sleeping figure and noticed the person was in a Santa suit…

With glasses on…

And dirty blonde hair.

His fear was immediately replaced with annoyance.

 _Bollocks…_

 _Why is it that he always comes into his house without me noticing… how does the little fucker even do it?_

Alfred turned in his sleep and laughed a little, his stupid mouth hanging open. As he rolled over, Arthur saw a gift marked,

 _For Arthur, my best pal._

He felt a smile tug at his lips as he picked up the gift and put it on his coffee table. He unwrapped it to reveal a new china teapot with a few cups with it.

 _He probably got this for me as a replacement for the one he broke months ago._

 _He bumped into it while running around the house with a giant American flag… Fucking tosser…_

How did he come all the way here? He don't want him travelling after… the crash…

He really didn't like how the boy refused to talk about it, and it was horribly unsettling how he constantly denied if he was in any pain, but Arthur knew that Alfred couldn't lie to him. He's known him too long to let that slide.

He _knew_ how it felt to have your people starve.

Alfred yawned and stretched his arms up, interrupting Arthur's thought process, and adjusting his glasses.

He blinked a few times. "Oh hey there, Arthur." He yawned. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Alfred." he said, picking something up from next to the tree and handing it to Alfred.

"Aww shucks… you got me something too Arthur?" Alfred said, taking the box from me and staring at it with curious wonder.

"Of course he did, you wanker," he chuckled. "Now open it already!"

He unwrapped it, and opened the box to find a shiny silver pocket watch inside.

"Wow…" Alfred said, holding it by the chain and examining the pretty watch.

"Because you're always so goddamned late all the time." he said, smiling wistfully.

Alfred laughed the way he always did in his childish tone, and began to set the watch to the right time.

Arthur just couldn't help but to watch his wonder at the trinket he'd bought him. He remembered the first Christmas he had with him. It was so long ago…

As he sat there setting the watch to the proper time, he looked back at his own gift, realizing he had missed a note attached to it. He carefully picked it up and read it.

" _Hey, I just want to say that you're the best older brother a guy could ask for. You're always so supportive of me even when I'm being such a big goof, and I really appreciate that. When living forever starts to take a toll on me, all I need to think is that I've got someone as great as you to help me through it."_

 _To the new year and beyond,_

 _-Alfred"_

He sighed, irritated and yet so happy at the sight of the boy under the tree, feeling a tightness in his chest.

He'd spent so many years having Christmas with him… he'd almost forget how much he's changed over the years and...

 _"God damn it, I just want to tell you how proud I am of you, you've grown so much... my god, look at you… and… and…"  
_

"Oh, goddammit Alfred, it's seven in the morning and you've already got me like this…" He muttered, feeling his eyes slightly dampening.

"Arthur? Is something wrong?" Alfred asked. Arthur hadn't realized that he was looking at him.

"Of course not you imbecile… Come on, let me pour your tea."

* * *

"Hey, where the hell are we going?"

"Damn, you're impatient…"

Ludwig led Gilbert through the hallways of their house, part of him eager to show his brother what he'd done, leaving Gilbert in a dazed and annoyed position. "Can he at least take this stupid blindfold off? I didn't know you were into kinky shit like this-"

The blonde tugged his brother harshly, cutting him off.

"Will you shut up? We're here anyway."

He directed Gilbert right in front of him, letting go of his shoulders. "Okay… Now." He said, and pulled off the blindfold.

In front of the silver haired man, his retired car lay, in its usual position.

"Ludwig, why are you bringing me to my broken car?"

"Just… Get in."

"What?"

"Get in the car."

He narrowed his eyes and got into the driver's seat, gripping the steering wheel angrily. Ludwig got in the passenger seat next to him and sat down.

"Start it." He said.

Gil seethed, unable to go on with this.

"Okay. Okay. It's Christmas day, and you're dragging me down to his old car, telling me to sit in it, and now, you're telling me to turn it on? Is this some kind of sick joke?" He said angrily. "You _know_ that as soon as he take the key,"

He took the key.

"Put it into the ignition,"

He put it into the ignition.

"And turn-"

As soon as he did, the engine whirred awake, the whole car instantly springing to life.

"...The keys…" he finished, bewildered.

He turned to see Ludwig smiling a toothless smile.

"You… you fixed… you…" He stammered.

"Merry Christmas, Gilbert."

Gil looked back at the steering wheel in awe.

"Thank you…"

"Of course." He answered kindly.

"Well, I might as well take you somewhere, now that I can drive again!" Gilbert said confidently.

"Why not." Ludwig said. "Where would you like to go?"

"Let's just ride around town, come on!"

They went to the coffee shop, the bookstore, the bakery, and then the two stopped at a field in front of Neuschwanstein Castle. Ludwig's favorite location thus far; the building was absolutely stunning, and the snow falling only complimented the sight.

"Hey, Ludwig?"

He turned to face his brother. "Yes?"

"Y'know, I really appreciate you being such a fantastic younger brother, and I know I push you around sometimes, but I just wanted you to know that… Your time with us so far has been awesome. You're such a great kid, and… the way you behave around people gives me the idea that no one has ever bothered to tell you that… and I'm sorry."

Ludwig had to take a minute to absorb all of the things said to him.

" _...being such a fantastic younger brother,..."_

" _Your time with us has been awesome…"_

" _You're such a great kid…"_

" _ **You're such a great kid…"**_

"Anyway, Merry Christmas." He handed a small box to the boy and closed his fingers around it.

Ludwig rolled it around in his hands. he had never received a Christmas gift before…

"I don't know what to say…"

"Don't say anything then," Gilbert chuckled. "Just open it!"

He took the lid off the box to uncover a decorated tree ornament inside that shone in the light.

"I figured since this was your first Christmas… an ornament of your own would be a good idea."

Ludwig felt himself becoming filled with so much gratitude and happiness, it was dizzying.

"This is so nice… I've never _-ah!_ "

Gilbert hugged him, cutting off his last sentence.

"My god, West, that's all you ever say…" He said, tightening his arms around his torso.

The blonde let his arms hold him back.

His heart was about to burst, Gilbert's kindness giving Ludwig a foreign sense of trust and security.

He felt a joyful tear fall from his face and he took a shaky breath in and out.

" _Thank you."_

And so,

That Christmas day,

An Englishman drank tea with an American,

Two Italian brothers shared gifts and bickered with each other,

A Frenchman sat alone and reminisced about old times,

A Japanese man enjoyed time with his brother from the neighboring country, who cooked wonderful dishes of his homeland,

A Russian spent time with his sisters,

And two Germanic brothers hugged quietly in the snow.

For this day at least,

The nations of the world were at peace.


	28. Phase 3- Chapter 1

**And now the next phase of this story begins. I really hope to get around actually writing about pre-world war scenarios that work in canon, because a lot of what's going to happen doesn't at all. Maybe one day when I finish this huge thing.**

 **Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

If Ludwig felt nervous the first time he was supposed to meet countries, he didn't even know how to describe how much he wanted to run straight back to his house and keep himself there.

But he didn't. He knew how much he had to do this. His people would need him to take charge now more than ever. The economy was more than just failing, it was dying, and he needed to fix it. Apparently, America was having these issues as well, as his Wall Street had crashed very recently, and his health wasn't holding up well. Speaking of people's health…

Prussia hadn't been feeling well in general, but his declining political power did not help. In fact, Germany's connection to his people was finally starting to come into effect, as he was starting to feel off, being unfocused and constantly getting incessant headaches.

And so, with his pure white gloves he opened the door to the large building and walked through the halls. He saw several countries roaming the halls, looking at paperwork.

Gilbert walked in behind him, contrasting Ludwig's suit by wearing a casual shirt and denim jeans.

"Okay, the meeting is going to start in five, so we should get moving."  
"Right." Gilbert said, not bothering to make eye contact with him.

As they walked through the halls to the meeting room, they got a few awkward stares, obviously noticing that he were new, their questioning eyes flashing with curiosity.

Ludwig and Gilbert walked into the meeting room, and instantly Ludwig could feel the weight of everyone's stares.

He quickly ignored the sudden attention drawn to him and walked to the seat marked with the name Germany.

On his right there was the "Prussia" name tag, and to the left of him was one marked "N. Italy" who was not here yet, apparently. As he pulled out his paperwork, he took note of the murmuring and whispers going around the room.

" _He's back?"_

" _How is he alive?"_

" _That doesn't look like Viktor…"_

" _No way…"_

He looked up for a brief moment to see them. Some curious, some suspicious,

And some scared…

It never left Ludwig's mind that he was taking the place of a position that is known for being so terrible. He'd figured that out himself.

What he was afraid to think about were the things Viktor did to these people in front of him.

"Okay, the meeting is officially starting now, please find your seats." England said sternly.

Everyone got to their assigned seats and sat down, when suddenly, two auburn haired nations burst through the door.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry!" The lighter haired one cried. "I overslept this morning!"

"You oversleep every day, you bastard!" The other said in an annoyed tone.

England rolled his eyes. "Just sit down, already."

The two nations, brothers, sat next to each other, the lighter haired one next to Ludwig.

He was not shy however to completely flesh out the blonde nation with his eyes, as he looked at the nametag, then to Ludwig, and back.

Ludwig bit his lip and closed his eyes in annoyance.

" _Does this person have any manners? I'm trying to look as friendly as possible, and he isn't making it very easy…"_

Ludwig looked at the nametag again.

" _North Italy?"_

"Now, before we start, I would like to introduce a returning member of the nations." England said.

Ludwig swallowed.

"Germany has returned to us with a new face. Please give him the respect a fellow nation would deserve."

A wave of murmurs started around the room.

"It's really him!"

"How did this happen?"

"I don't want to fight again!"

" _Verdammt…"_ Ludwig muttered to himself.

"Germany! You're here!"

Ludwig turned in shock to see Italy tugging at his arm and smiling.

"It's great to have you back!"

" _What is he talking about…"_

"Do I… know you?"

"Alright, you can all pay him your utmost gratitude when the meeting is over." England said sarcastically. "Let us begin the meeting."


	29. Phase 3- Chapter 2

Lichtenstein's Diary

January 20th, 1930

Today the meeting was really interesting. I got to see a new country. It's a little odd though, because he isn't _really_ new, he's just a different person. I didn't know that could happen. Big brother seems really wary of him though because Germany used to be very mean to everyone. He'd push people around, and he was just such a bully. The things he did to the others were awful. Like when he bullied Francis, or when he badly hurt Arthur… And lots of other things in the past years.

This new one at least doesn't _look_ malicious. He's a little intimidating, but he doesn't have that evil glint in his eye like Viktor did. When I waved goodbye, I noticed his eyes softened a bit as he waved back. Other than that, I could tell that he was very particular about his work. As England was speaking, he took notes on so many things. I think I saw his pen swishing back and forth the whole time.

To finalize, I think we have a better person in that place this time around. Maybe even a friend…

Lithuania's Log

* * *

January 20th, 1930

Ivan came home in a good mood today… I would be happy about it, but usually the things he's happy about aren't good. Either way, we met the new face of Germany today. He was okay, we didn't see much of him, though. From what I could see, Feliciano had already caught on to annoying him. He never learns, does he? Those two always had an odd relationship. I feel like Feli always hoped that Viktor would be different… and he would wind up paying for it. He's so determined to be friends with everyone that he'll do things like this and get himself hurt. In this case, I think I have a place in saying that this person seems a lot less likely to do harm to him from what I've seen in his behavior towards Feli. I can only hope I'm right for the boy's sake. I mean, his brother does help him every time, so I'm sure this time won't be too different. Ravis seems intimidated by him, but lots of people were, and if I'm being completely honest, _everything_ intimidates Ravis. Eduard seemed too busy trying to avoid Natalya's deathly glare, probably because he was sitting next to Ivan.

Well, that's about all that happened today. I really hope this new representative doesn't bring any trouble. Everyone is still recovering, and we can't afford more conflict.

* * *

Romano's Journal

January 20th, 1930

He's back. That muscle-ridden bastard is back. And worst of all, Feliciano is already sucking up to him. He looks a lot different now, he's blonde hair and has blue eyes. Viktor was the complete opposite. He looked kinda sick too. Good, he probably deserves it, the shit he's done. I can't believe them. Him and my dimwit of a brother. Feli is always getting himself into trouble with people. He's far too trusting. I swear, if this new guy winds up fucking him over again, I won't care. Not again! I won't.

I WON'T THIS TIME, OK?!


	30. Phase 3- Chapter 2 (Part 2)

China's notes

Jan 20, 1930

Today we saw our new country again. He still seemed a bit nervous, but he's definitely a lot less jumpy from last time. So far what I've noticed is that he and his brother's inflation is really causing them some trouble. They look unhealthy. I need to invite Prussia and his new brother over to meet with them. After all, you should keep up friendships as much as possible in a time like this when a war has just ended. And that poor child Ludwig, Ivan was staring at him the whole time… I hope he didn't notice, it definitely would've spooked him. In other news, the two of them were not the only ones feeling ill either it would seem; America seems unsteady due to his market crash as well. Either way, I need to know as much as I can with America. He's being quiet and I'm beginning to get worried.

* * *

France's _journal_

Jan 20, 1930

We saw that new child again today. He sat by his brother filling out papers with Feli by his side, pestering him. I never grow old of his kindness and enthusiasm. He was always keeping everyone cheery despite the current conflicts going on. But the new one, Ludwig, was it? He isn't looking so good. Neither is Gilbert, now that I mention it. Both of them were rather pale, and they were coughing as well. I think I caught glimpse of a bloody handkerchief on Gilbert's end. It's very alarming. As Germany grows stronger, it's as if Prussia continues to get weaker. And with this inflation nagging at him, I'm not sure how long he'll keep his status. Political leaders have been itching to dissolve Prussia… and I don't like to think of what will happen to Gilbert.

* * *

Japan's Notes

January 20, 1930

Today it would seem that we have gotten a new representative for Viktor. Apparently the former nation has died from unknown causes, but his replacement seems appropriate enough. He at least acts more like Prussia's brother. I hope their government heals, however; They don't seem well. In other events, China has invited me to his house for dinner. I am not sure what to bring with me… He really likes to have me over, but I wish he would understand that I do have my own work to be doing. I am not a child, dinner is not something I can always make time for.


	31. Phase 3- Chapter 2 (Part 3)

America's Log

January 20th, 1930

We saw that new guy today. He seems way more chill since the first time I caught him. That day he was real tense and way too formal. He'll get used to it, I'm sure. Feli's already started to take care of that, he was all over the guy before the meeting even started. I think he just needs some time to settle. Unfortunately for him, that'll be a while, especially with their government and all. He's starting to look a lot like… well… me. Since my government collapsed, I've felt awful. I'm sore all the time, and it's hard to hide from England that I haven't been able to eat well. Matt has been keeping quiet for me, but it won't be long before he cracks and tells the old geezer. What a day that'll be… sends shivers down my spine to think of it.

* * *

England's Notes

January 20th, 1930

Ludwig's here again. He seemed a bit off, I'm assuming he's beginning to catch the effects of being linked to his country. Poor bastard. He's come into his role at a really awful time. Political matters in his wing aren't looking great, and with Prussia losing more and more power… It pains me to think the boy may be alone in this matter. Speaking of idiot youngsters, Alfred's condition is not much better, and is being awfully quiet with me. I was about this close to dragging him out of that meeting by the ear when he told me he was feeling "Okie dokie." Then he flashed me that shit-eating grin he always has. I'm becoming increasingly cross with him. Looks like I'm going to Mattie's house this weekend. It's about time he told me how the family's been holding up over there across the Atlantic…

* * *

Prussia's AWESOME Diary

January 20th, 1930

West looks a little more comfortable with his situation. Despite how shitty he's been feeling lately, I think he's doing a little better in the overall management of his job. He files paperwork, spends time with the leaders enough, and then comes in home to cook dinner all in one fell swoop. During the meeting, that adorable little Feli was all over him. How he manages to be so pleasant all of the time, I have no idea. Lutz seemed a little confused by his clingy-ness but they'll be fine.

My problem is Ivan.

Bastard was eyeballing West the whole time. I hate it. He's just fleshing out his next invasion, his next dirty scheme. Countries aren't in that much control of what their bosses decide, but Ivan doesn't even seem to mind the invasions. He loves it. Relishes in the idea of taking down everyone around him and expanding his little Soviet country collection.

He won't take us. Never. I won't allow it. I know I'm not what I used to be, but I'll die before I let Ivan get anywhere near the two of us.


End file.
